Denton residents, brace yourselves for a heftier electric bill come April – Denton Municipal Electric (DME) is mulling over a mid-year rate hike, a proposal laid out in front of the Public Utilities Board and to be debated before the City Council on Feb. 16. The increase, if given the green light, would pad out your monthly statement starting April, to recoup heftier energy and transmission costs that DME got billed for, according to the City of Denton, Texas.
It's been a hot minute since Denton had to deal with rate adjustments, but after a summer that saw energy prices soar through the roof, DME finds themselves in a tough spot, proposing to spread a staggering $31.26 million financing plan over the next five years to keep their finances from going under, an issue electric providers across Texas can all sing the blues about, DME said they're not the only ones that got hit with the high costs. Residential customers can expect to dig deeper into their pockets by an average of $10.60 monthly – while their bills will take another $8.80 hit to cover the climbing costs of hitching a ride on other transmission systems' upgrades to the ERCOT grid, costs which have been scaling up without a rate adjustment for nearly six years.
The pinch could translate to an average electric bill bumping up from $106 to $116 per annum, once you do the math on an annual average, not the news you want when you're budgeting your expenses. Still, despite the potential hike, DME wants customers to remember they're getting a sweet deal on reliable, safe, and 100% renewable energy, at least when you stack them up against other municipally owned utilities around Texas – even with the proposed adjustments, they're vying for the title of one of the lowest cost providers in the cowboy state.
The proposed adjustments are not set in stone yet and will be put up against the ropes in a joint meeting with the PUB and City Council following preliminary discussions, the council's decision will finalize the rates, according to DME, they've been mindful of their customers, particularly in these times of increasing energy costs, ensuring their service remains affordable by keeping rates unadjusted for a good six to seven years till they hit this financial snag.
