Frisco Atmos customers to see higher gas bills in October

Frisco residents who receive natural gas service from Atmos Energy could see their bills increase starting in October.

During a Sept. 1 meeting, the Frisco City Council voted to adopt a negotiated settlement that will allow Atmos Energy to raise customer rates starting Oct. 1.

The backstory

The city of Frisco is part of the Atmos Cities Steering Committee, which is a 182-member coalition of cities in Texas that represents more than 1 million customers.

Atmos requested $291.1 million in additional systemwide revenue in April, while steering committee member cities determined that $253.4 million was adequate. Following negotiations, Atmos and the steering committee agreed to a $260.5 million settlement, more than $30 million below the company’s initial request.

The $260.5 million settlement allows Atmos Energy to collect more money from customers, resulting in increased gas rates.

The numbers

According to City Council documents, the impact of a settlement between Atmos Energy and the Atmos Cities Steering Committee on average residential rates is a 14.15% monthly bill increase, which is about $13.37 more per month.

The negotiated settlement will increase rates for average commercial customers by $44.82, or 9.9%, according to city documents.

Zooming out

The city of Frisco is served by both CoServ Gas and Atmos for natural gas. The approved rate increase only applies to Atmos customers.

The Texas Railroad Commission’s latest city-level data lists 47,145 CoServ Gas customers and 18,166 Atmos customers in Frisco.