EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The El Paso City Council voted on Tuesday, June 24, to deny El Paso Electric’s (EPE) proposed $93 million rate increase for its Texas retail customers, the City of El Paso announced in a news release.
This comes after months of “evaluation, public outreach, and formal hearings,” the City said.
The proposed increase, submitted early this year, sought to raise rates by approximately $22.39 per month for the average residential customer — a 23 percent increase in the typical monthly bill, the City said.
The City said the request included an $85.7 million general rate increase and an additional $7.3 million for a “retiring plant rider” to recover costs associated with decommissioned power plants.
As we previously reported, the City Council unanimously suspended the rate increase in February to allow time for a thorough review.
Since then, City staff, legal counsel, and industry experts have examined the proposal, and EPE conducted six community meetings throughout April to provide information and gather public input.
The City will next engage in settlement discussions with EPE and other intervenors. If a settlement is not reached, the case will go before the Public Utility Commission of Texas for a hearing in August and a decision by next year, according to the news release.
“This vote reflects the City’s commitment to ensuring El Paso families are not asked to shoulder rate increases that haven’t been fully justified,” City Attorney Karla Nieman said. “Council took a thoughtful, measured approach and ultimately stood in defense of transparency, accountability, and fairness. Protecting residents from undue financial burden remains a top priority.”
In addition to this rate case, the City said it continues to intervene in five other EPE filings that could impact customer bills, including:
- Amended Generation Cost Recovery Rider (Texas Solar One), where EPE seeks to raise rates by approximately $2.11 per month for the average residential customer on top of the increase requested in the rate case
- Fuel Reconciliation
- Newman Buffer Certificate of Convenience and Necessity
- Macho Springs Reallocation
- Energy Efficiency Cost Recovery Factor
For more information about utility rate cases or future updates, visit ElPasoTexas.gov.
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