The Pflugerville City Council voted unanimously Feb. 14 to suspend a proposed rate increase by Atmos Energy for 90 days while the city studies the merits of the increase.

Assistant City Manager Lauri Gillam said the resolution to suspend the rates was not a finding on their merit but was a move made to give the city more time to determine the reasonableness of the increase.

Gillam said the Atmos increase would add about 13.6 percent to customers' bills on average, raising an additional $49 million for Atmos energy. Gillam said the increase would come in part from an increase in Atmos' base rate.

If the council had not taken action, Gillam said, the new rates would have gone into effect in March.