One of the major changes for residential customers is a higher fixed monthly fee. That\u2019s because the PUC approved an increase in the residential customer charge \u2014 the flat fee customers pay regardless of how much electricity they use \u2014 from $9.25 to $13.71 .<\/p>\n
That shift means a larger share of electric bills will be unavoidable, even for customers who cut back on energy use. Utilities often seek to implement higher fixed charges because that helps them recover the fixed costs \u2013 such as having to maintain poles and wire infrastructure \u2013 that stay the same regardless of how much energy customers consume.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But consumer advocates argue higher flat customer charges reduce incentives to conserve energy and hit low-usage households hardest.<\/p>\n
Some large customers such as local public school districts and governmental entities will also see a significant change to their electricity rates.<\/p>\n
For years, customers such as the El Paso and Ysleta school districts, El Paso County and other public-sector and large institutional users that consume large amounts of electricity paid a discounted rate.<\/p>\n
But in its final order, the Public Utility Commission eliminated that discount and required those customers to pay rates fully aligned with the actual cost of serving them. The decision reflects a broader philosophical shift for El Paso Electric: that each class of customers should pay for the costs they impose on the electric system, rather than relying on some customers to cover costs for others.<\/p>\n
RELATED: El Paso Electric filings detail power plant impact behind Meta\u2019s $10 billion data center<\/a><\/p>\n Having business customers subsidize households is \u201cnot usually good rate-making, because what you do is you put down the pressure on (commercial and industrial) growth, which doesn\u2019t give jobs, which gives you the ability to pay your electric bill,\u201d El Paso Electric CEO Kelly Tomblin said during an April 1 City Council meeting. \u201cSo, it\u2019s sort of a spiral.\u201d<\/p>\n For large public entities, the change could flow through to taxpayers who will have to pay for higher operating costs for local schools and governments facing elevated electricity bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n What about people with rooftop solar?\u00a0<\/p>\n The Public Utility Commission also approved major billing changes for customers with rooftop solar panel systems that will result in an increase of monthly bills of around $7.50, according to El Paso Electric.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In the power company\u2019s Texas service area, over 25,400 customers had rooftop solar panels as of 2024, the most recent year with available data. Those panels made up a combined 141 megawatts of generation capacity distributed on rooftops across the city. By comparison, El Paso Electric\u2019s single largest power plant unit \u2013 Newman 6 \u2013 has a generating capacity of 228 megawatts.\u00a0<\/p>\n El Paso Electric has long argued that rooftop solar panel customers don\u2019t pay their fair share of the utility\u2019s grid maintenance costs, so the utility for years has charged solar customers a $30 minimum bill even if a customer\u2019s panels produced more energy in a month than the customer used.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, the utility will get rid of the minimum bill and replace it with a so-called demand charge for customers with solar panels.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result of El Paso Electric\u2019s rate case, rooftop solar customers (or DG customers) will now have to pay a monthly \u2018demand charge\u2019 fee that will range, on average, from $28.50 to $47.50 for most DG customers,\u201d said Sam Silerio, Texas Program Director for the advocacy organization Solar United Neighbors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Silerio said El Paso Electric should conduct a detailed study to look at the benefits rooftop solar customers bring as a decentralized source of electricity generation. And they want the utility to eventually pay customers more for the electricity their panels produce.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CB_SolarFarm-7348.jpg\")
El Paso Electric CEO Kelly Tomblin speaks on the company\u2019s investment in solar power and affordable electricity in San Elizario on Jan. 23, 2024. (Corrie Boudreaux\/El Paso Matters)<\/p>\n