Texas Gas Service will host a series of community meetings to discuss its proposal to consolidate service areas that could raise residential gas rates by more than 27% for El Paso customers.
Texas Gas has a pending rate case before the Texas Railroad Commission requesting a revenue increase of about $41.1 million, proposing to merge several of its service areas across the state. Under the proposal, the West Texas, Central Gulf and the Rio Grande Valley areas would fall into a single statewide rate structure.
The commission, which regulates the utility, held a hearing on the request Tuesday in Austin.
Railroad Commission staff – who recommend decisions to the RRC’s three elected commissioners – supported the consolidation. If approved, household gas rates would decline significantly for customers in other parts of south Texas while increasing for El Paso households.
“El Paso customers face a 27% rate increase to subsidize rate reductions elsewhere,” the city’s lawyers wrote in a brief submitted to the RRC.
Texas Gas Service said in filings submitted to the RRC that having a single statewide service area would make it cheaper to file for rate increases instead of having to seek three separate rate hikes.
Texas Gas Service is asking the RRC to approve a 10.4% shareholder profit margin; RRC staff suggested a 9.5% margin while the city of El Paso’s lawyers said the company’s shareholders should only be allowed to earn a profit of 9%.
Texas Gas Service’s rate increase requests “result in rate shock for the residential and commercial customer classes,” Marzi Bolhassani, a financial analyst with the RRC, wrote in testimony.
Parties in the rate case, including the city of El Paso and other municipalities as well as Railroad Commission staff, will submit briefs arguing for or against the rate increase in the coming weeks and the RRC is expected to issue a decision in late January.
Texas Gas Service is proposing to raise household bills by between 25% for “large” residential customers and by 27% for “small” households. The company classifies residential customers as small if they use less than 330 cubic feet of gas annually and large if they use more than that.
The El Paso City Council directed the utility to take additional steps to ensure transparency and provide opportunities for meaningful community engagement, the city said in the news release.
The community meetings are set for:
- Monday, Nov. 10
- 5-6:30 p.m. City Hall, 300 N. Campbell St.
- 7-8:30 p.m. West Side Regional Command Center, 4801 Osborne Drive
- Tuesday, Nov. 11
- 5-6:30 p.m. Pebble Hills Regional Command Center, 10780 Pebble Hills Drive
- 7-8:30 p.m. Upper Eastside Regional Command Center, 14398 Edgemere Blvd.
- Wednesday, Nov. 12
- 5-6:30 p.m. Valle Bajo Recreation Center, 7380 Alameda Ave.
- 7-8:30 p.m. Mission Valley Regional Command Center, 9001 Escobar Drive
- Thursday, Nov. 13
- 5-6:30 p.m. Wayne Thornton Recreation Center, 1860 Walter Jones Drive
- 7-8:30 p.m. Northeast Regional Command Center, 9600 Dyer St.
A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 17, at the El Paso City Council Chambers in City Hall.
The post Texas Gas Service customers in El Paso face 27% rate increases under proposal appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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