<\/p>\n
Paul Williams and his dog, Coco, at his home in North Austin Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n
Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Paul Williams remembers when his natural gas bill was so cheap it barely seemed worth paying.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Williams, who has owned his modest North Austin home near Interstate 35<\/a> and East Rundberg Lane since 1985, said he used to send Texas Gas Service a check for several months at a time just to avoid dealing with tiny balances.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThe gas bill was so small, it was a nuisance to write a check for $8.23 or something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Now retired and living alone with his dog Coco, Williams says those days are long gone.<\/p>\n His January gas bill totaled $133. During the same month in 2023, he paid $76\u00a0\u2014 a roughly 75% increase in just two years.<\/p>\n \u201cMy gas bill was extraordinarily high this winter,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Paul Williams discusses his high gas bill at his home in North Austin Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n As gas bills climb across Austin, the City Council<\/a> is poised Thursday to approve what advisers are calling a \u201conce-in-a-generation\u201d franchise agreement with Texas Gas Service, the utility that serves roughly 95% of Austin\u2019s natural gas customers. But members of the city\u2019s Resource Management Commission say the proposed 10-year deal does not go far enough to shield customers like Williams from escalating costs.<\/p>\n The commission, which advises council on energy and sustainability issues, says city staff left out several major recommendations<\/a> intended to strengthen oversight of Texas Gas\u2019 infrastructure spending, expand low-income bill assistance and place tighter restrictions on how the utility passes costs on to ratepayers.<\/p>\n Commissioners argue those omissions could weaken the city\u2019s ability to challenge future rate increases at a time when Austinites are already struggling with rising utility bills.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cBills are high,\u201d commission Chair Charlotte Davis said in an interview. \u201cPeople are noticing their bills are going up much faster than inflation, so something should be done, right?\u201d<\/p>\n City spokesperson Melissa\u00a0Espitia said all commission recommendations were brought to the table during negotiations with Texas Gas but some did not make the cut during the course of the talks\u00a0\u2014 and during subsequent legal review.<\/p>\n \u201cThe resulting agreement reflects the outcomes of those negotiations,\u201d Espitia said in a written statement. \u201cThe agreement presented for Council consideration reflects the terms determined appropriate for inclusion following legal, operational, regulatory and negotiated review.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Williams discusses his high gas bill at his home in North Austin Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n The proposal<\/p>\n Federal data shows residential gas prices in Texas have risen sharply over the past decade. In Austin, city data shows rates have more than doubled since 2019.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The City Council has not renegotiated Austin\u2019s franchise agreement with Texas Gas in decades. The current 20-year contract expires in October, giving the city a rare opportunity to revisit how the utility operates and how aggressively it can pass costs on to customers.<\/p>\n The franchise agreement itself does not directly set gas rates, which are largely regulated through the Texas Railroad Commission<\/a>. But commissioners argue the agreement can still influence how Texas Gas structures and justifies future rate increases.<\/p>\n The commission adopted a slate of recommendations in January for a new 10-year agreement. But members said the version city staff sent to council ahead of Thursday\u2019s vote excludes several provisions they considered most important.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be unfair to say that city staff did not take any of our advice,\u201d said Paul Robbins, the commission\u2019s vice chair and a longtime Texas Gas critic. \u201cBut the big things that could help rates\u2026 were left on the cutting room floor.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Paul Williams discusses his high gas bill at his home in North Austin Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026.<\/p>\n Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n The missing pieces<\/p>\n At a special meeting last week, the Resource Management Commission adopted a resolution urging the city to put some of those things back into the proposal, including enhanced conservation programs, leak detection protocols and bill-payer assistance funding.<\/p>\n One of the largest omissions that could keep prices down, commissioners argued, is a requirement that Texas Gas charge developers for building out infrastructure to serve new developments rather than passing those costs on to ratepayers. Similarly, the commission has asked for more oversight as the gas company upgrades its distribution network.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n