Utility and Internet Costs at Lake Chapala, Mexico

This article will help you add up what your local bills would run, “more or less”.

Gas

Remember the old expression “Now Your Cooking with Gas”? Well that’s just what we do here everyday. We also heat water, dry our clothes and on rare occasion take the chill off of our homes on the few cold nights here. Some folks who don’t use solar also heat their pools with gas.

When I say gas I mean propane gas, not natural gas. Pictured is a typical propane tank.

Most couples find that their gas costs approx $25 USD per month on average.

Electricity

Electricity is only available from one source: the Centro Federal Electrico (CFE), a government monopoly. You must pay on time whether or not you received your bill. The bill covers two months.

There are a number of different tiers in the pricing of electricity. The goal is to conserve because the more you use the more you pay PER KILOWATT HOUR.

We use approx. $38 USD per month. We have two TVs on most of the time, two computers, and numerous electric appliances.

Telephone

Local telephone service for 100 calls per month is approx $18 USD.

Telephone service is provided by Tel-Mex (a near monopoly). Many folks make do with cell phones. I rarely use my house phone.

My local cell phone service is by Movie Star and I get free long distance within Mexico with my Movie Star service so I use it for pretty much all calls within Mexico including local calls. My monthly bill for my cell runs me between $23-40 USD per month (I use it a lot for business).

Water

My water is included as part of my homeowners dues, but if I lived in the city instead of in my neighborhood I would pay approx $150 USD per year for water.

Homeowner Dues

Dues vary from neighborhood to neighborhood depending upon the efficiency of the neighborhood association, the services provided and the size of the neighborhood (from $25 to $200 USD).

In Chapala Haciendas, where I live, our dues are $50 USD per month. I receive all the water I want (no meters), street lights, twice weekly trash pickup, once weekly garden debris pickup, street repair, and extra police security patrols. We also have a bi-lingual secretary and an office open M-F, 9am-3pm.

Satellite TV

We have 3 main satellite TV firms (Star Choice, Sky and Dish) which are like in the USA or Canada as far as packages and prices go.

Internet

Dial-up is everywhere in the area. Highspeed is almost everywhere. Four firms provide the High Speed service.

I utilize three of the four between my office and home.

At home I have DirectWay which is a direct satellite link for my highspeed and I’m also in the process of reinstalling “Mexico Wireless”.

In my office I use Tel Mex’s Infinitum (DSL) which is the most reliable if you are in an area served.

Another wireless provider called Laguna Net also provides good wireless service from Ajijic to the west end of the Lake.

My Tel Mex DSL is highspeed and runs about $23/month. My satellite runs a whopping $83/month which includes the rental of the expensive direct uplink equipment to the satellite each month. I hope to be able to drop this when my Mexico Wireless connection is up and running well.