{"id":398631,"date":"2026-08-05T20:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398631\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T20:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:20:07","slug":"project-bravo-el-paso-county-offer-help-as-higher-electric-bills-squeeze-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/398631\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Bravo, El Paso County offer help as higher electric bills squeeze families"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas \u2014 Higher electric bills are forcing some El Paso families to make tough choices, including cutting back on groceries and other basic expenses.<\/p>\n

El Paso Electric says the jump is being driven by a mix of higher summer energy use, newly approved rates and the end of temporary fuel-refund credits that lowered bills earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved updated rates that took effect in 2026. El Paso Electric says the increase is tied to money already spent on system upgrades, maintenance and growing demand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Customers also stopped seeing the temporary credits tied to a $40 million fuel refund<\/a> that appeared on bills in March, April and May.<\/p>\n

Customers say the increases are hitting hard<\/p>\n

At an El Paso Electric customer-assistance pop-up Tuesday in east El Paso, several customers showed up looking for answers.<\/p>\n

Marcelino Zavala, a retired customer, said his bill went from about $55 in May to nearly $110 this month, even though he has been trying to use less electricity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to buy good groceries, so I had to buy half of the groceries,\u201d Zavala said. \u201cBut now with this going on, I have to buy half of a half.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zavala said he has turned off lights and unplugged appliances, including his coffee maker, microwave and cellphone chargers.<\/p>\n

Michelle Lopez, an El Paso Electric team coordinator, said the recent rate increase is only part of the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of people that are concerned because of the recent rate increases, but also because consumption tends to be higher around this time of year,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Sue Sanchez, a retired El Paso teacher with solar panels, said her bill had usually stayed between about $28 and $32 a month. She said it jumped to $72.47 last month and then to $89 this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people are probably not going to be able to afford medicine,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cPeople aren\u2019t going to be able to afford buying good food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanchez said she showed up because she believes customers need to speak up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI figured if people don\u2019t talk, nothing\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cPeople have to come and say they\u2019re not happy with what\u2019s going on. And I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Project Bravo says summer demand is rising<\/p>\n

As more people struggle to keep up, Project Bravo is reminding El Paso County residents that utility assistance may be available.<\/p>\n

Laura Ponce, executive director of Project Bravo, said the organization typically sees requests climb during the hottest part of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cJune, July, August, we always get a spike of people needing help because their utility bill gets so high in the summer,\u201d Ponce said.<\/p>\n

Project Bravo can help qualifying households with electric, gas and propane bills.<\/p>\n

Ponce said applicants generally must have a household income at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. She said that works out to about $23,940 a year for one person and about $49,500 for a family of four.<\/p>\n

People do not necessarily need to be behind on their bill to qualify. Project Bravo can also provide additional help for households with a child younger than 5, an older adult or a person with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Residents can pick up an application at one of Project Bravo\u2019s four offices. Applications must be completed in full and submitted with the required documents.<\/p>\n

The organization says complete applications can take four to six weeks to process, and it encourages people to apply before they reach the point of disconnection.<\/p>\n

Project Bravo offices are located at:<\/p>\n

2000 Texas Ave.4838 Montana Ave.14901 Whitetail Deer Drive8908 Old County Road<\/p>\n

More information is available at Project Bravo\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n

El Paso County also has money available<\/p>\n

El Paso County also offers utility help through its General Assistance division.<\/p>\n

Irene Guti\u00e9rrez, executive director of the El Paso County Community Services Department, said the county can help qualifying residents with electric, gas and water bills. The same office also offers rent and mortgage assistance.<\/p>\n

Unlike Project Bravo\u2019s federally funded program, the county\u2019s assistance comes from the county\u2019s general fund.<\/p>\n

Guti\u00e9rrez said the program is open to eligible residents across El Paso County, including those who live inside the city.<\/p>\n

The department helps about 3,000 to 4,000 people each year across its rent, mortgage and utility programs, according to Guti\u00e9rrez. That comes out to roughly 300 to 350 people a month.<\/p>\n

She said requests for electric-bill help tend to climb in the summer, while gas-assistance requests increase during colder months.<\/p>\n

For people facing disconnection, Guti\u00e9rrez said county staff can contact the utility company once eligibility is confirmed and let the company know assistance is being processed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe communicate immediately with the utility companies to let them know they\u2019re here at our office for assistance and they\u2019re eligible,\u201d Guti\u00e9rrez said.<\/p>\n

Residents can apply at 6314 Delta Drive or call 915-273-3496.<\/p>\n

Ponce said people should not wait until the situation becomes a crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cA home is dangerous if we\u2019re not able to keep it cool or warm enough,\u201d Ponce said. \u201cChildren can\u2019t study, especially when they\u2019re going back to school, if the lights are out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas \u2014 Higher electric bills are forcing some El Paso families to make tough choices, including…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-398631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}