Texas Gas Service and Oncor Electric Delivery customers in Austin could potentially see increases in their monthly gas and electric bills, but Austin City Council voted to temporarily suspend these increased rates during its July 24 meeting.

The details

TGS filed an application June 30 to increase gas utility rates in its service area, which includes approximately 230,235 Austin customers.

The application would result in an increase of:

• $3.94 per month for small residential customers, averaging a monthly bill of $48.82
• $7.11 per month for small commercial class customers, averaging a monthly bill of $114.67

The rate changes would also decrease large residential customer gas bills by $2.99 per month for a monthly bill averaging $74.30, and decrease large commercial class customer gas bills by $63.01 per month for a monthly bill averaging $676.72.

What else?

Oncor also filed a statement of intent June 26 to increase its electric service rates.

There are approximately 1,410 Oncor customers in Austin—including 1,150 residential customers and 260 commercial customers—which are generally located north of Howard Lane, south of Wells Branch Parkway, west of I-35 and east of Loop 1.

Per agenda documents, the filing includes a 12.3% increase in residential rates and 51% increase in street lighting rates. A typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would see a monthly bill increase of about $7 beginning July 31.

The action taken

Council voted to suspend both the gas and electric rate increases for the next 90 days, which is the maximum amount of time permitted by law, per agenda documents.

The suspension will allow staff to work with a coalition of cities and municipalities served by TGS and Oncor, along with legal counsel. The legal counsel will hire consultants to study the proposed rate increases and determine further strategies, including a potential settlement.