The suspension will allow town officials to negotiate the rate change and potentially lower the amount towns and residents have to pay for their electric bills.
The gist
Town officials approved the 90-day suspension at their respective July 21 regular council meetings.
Oncor asked both towns to pay 13% more than the current rates, which is an $834 million increase, according to documents from Flower Mound and Argyle.
The proposed rates would increase residential costs by 12.3% and street lighting costs by 51%. If approved, an average residential customer in Flower Mound and Argyle would see a bill increase of about $7.90 per month, according to documents from both towns.
With this suspension, town officials will work with the Steering Committee of Cities Served by Oncor to determine if the rate change is lawful and potentially negotiate a lower rate, per town documents.
The Steering Committee of Cities Served by Oncor represents consumer interests in proceedings brought by the Oncor transmission and distribution utility, according to the Steering Committee's website.
Also of note
Several cities around Dallas-Fort Worth suspended the Oncor rate changes including Roanoke, Plano, Richardson and several cities in Tarrant County.
Highland Village’s electric provider is CoServ, so residents are unaffected by this rate increase from Oncor, Laurie Mullens, Highland Village’s Director of Marketing and Communications said.
