{"id":53475,"date":"2025-11-17T21:28:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/53475\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T21:28:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:28:07","slug":"podcast-texas-gas-service-seeks-el-paso-rate-hike-as-electric-water-bills-set-to-increase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/53475\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast: Texas Gas Service seeks El Paso rate hike as electric, water bills set to increase"},"content":{"rendered":"

El Pasoans\u2019 natural gas bills are going up. Here\u2019s why <\/a><\/p>\n

Diego Mendoza-Moyers: Today, let\u2019s talk about Texas Gas Service and the rate increase on the table that would lift natural gas bills in El Paso.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposed rate increase would increase average residential gas bills here by about $10 per month for small customers who use an average of less than 330 cubic feet of gas monthly, and almost $15 for large customers who use more than that. And you can see your usage on your bill every month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The typical bill in El Paso would be about $49 for small household customers and about $74 for the larger customers if this rate increase is adopted as is. And while all residential gas customers in El Paso would see their bills increase as a result of this rate hike, households down in the Rio Grande Valley would actually get a break on their gas bills. And it\u2019s all part of Texas Gas Service\u2019s request to merge its service areas across Texas, which we\u2019ll talk more about in a few minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Small businesses in El Paso could see a slight decrease in their gas bills, while larger businesses here will likely see a bump in their bills of about 15%. But why is Texas Gas Service seeking a rate increase now? And what are our city leaders doing to push back?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: On Monday, Nov. 17, after this podcast was recorded, the El Paso delegation of the Texas House of Representatives sent a letter to the city of El Paso asking it to fight the proposed increase. \u201cWe\u2019re writing to say very clearly that our people can\u2019t afford an increase,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n

LEARN MORE: Texas Gas Service customers in El Paso face 27% rate increases under proposal<\/a><\/p>\n

I want to spend a few minutes talking through different aspects of this Texas Gas Service rate increase, which will probably take effect early next year around the same time as rate increases that El Paso Electric and El Paso Water are also likely to implement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve heard a lot about the affordability crisis in the last couple of years, and things don\u2019t seem likely to get a lot easier for El Pasoans in the near future.<\/p>\n

Before I move on, I want to mention that this El Paso Matters Podcast episode is brought to you by our podcast title sponsor, Tawney, Acosta and Chaparro, truck crash and injury attorneys. Their team of local, seasoned trial attorneys are ready to help if you\u2019ve been injured in a crash.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re also sponsored by the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors. If you\u2019re looking for a realtor or for a property to buy or rent, visit elpasotexas.com.\u00a0<\/p>\n

OK, so let\u2019s get a little more into this. Why is Texas Gas Service seeking to raise rates? They filed a 1,600-page document last summer telling their regulator, the Railroad Commission of Texas, \u201cHey, look, the rates that we\u2019ve set in the last couple of years, they\u2019re not bringing in enough money to pay off these investments we\u2019ve made to deliver gas to customers. They\u2019re not bringing in enough to pay off the interest on our debt, and also to provide a return in the form of dividends to our stockholders, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, they file that request and then it becomes kind of a legal proceeding. The city of El Paso and many other cities in Texas Gas Service\u2019s service areas across Texas, they join in and they say, \u201cLook, don\u2019t raise our rates, and here\u2019s why.\u201d The staff of the regulator of Texas Gas Service, which is the Railroad Commission, the state\u2019s oil and gas regulator, staffers at the RRC jump in and they issue their own kind of recommendations to the railroad commissioners. And whether or not the commissioners listen to that \u2013it\u2019s up to them \u2013 but it\u2019s basically the RRC\u2019s staff\u2019s point of view.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, they file this big document and they say, \u201cLook, we need to bring in $41 million of additional revenue annually from our customers\u201d to, like I said, pay off these investments that Texas Gas Service says they\u2019ve made in the last couple of years and also to pay off debt and provide a return to stockholders, right? Texas Gas Service is a monopoly utility where it operates, so it can\u2019t set its own prices. So, that\u2019s why it has to say, \u201cLook, let us \u2013 our regulator \u2013 let us set rates in a way that we can pay off all of these things that we need to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, as far as investments in El Paso, right, because they serve El Paso, but also parts of the Panhandle, the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, parts of Central Texas around Austin. But the question has come up: \u201cWell, you want to raise the rates in El Paso, what have you done here, right? What investments have you made in El Paso to improve service for El Pasoans?\u201d<\/p>\n

And the one example that a Texas Gas Service employee who\u2019s based here in El Paso brought up recently was the sort of replacement or refurbishment of a pipeline that delivers gas into El Paso that was built 100-plus years ago. And, so, they\u2019re going in and replacing it. And that was the primary example of an investment that has been made locally by Texas Gas Service as far as things to improve service here locally for us.<\/p>\n

I also want to mention Texas Gas Service is a subsidiary of ONE Gas, which is a larger publicly-traded gas company that also serves customers in Kansas and Oklahoma as well. It\u2019s valued at about $5 billion, paid out about $80 million in dividends to stockholders over the first six months of this year, essentially from revenue from bills paid by ratepayers. So, it\u2019s a big publicly traded company. Texas Gas Service is a subsidiary, and they\u2019re the ones that are providing service to us.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moving on, Texas Gas Service is requesting a shareholder return, basically, of 10.4%. That\u2019s a profit margin to shareholders of 10.4%. Like I said, as a monopoly, they don\u2019t set their own prices. And, so, they have basically a regulated price and a regulated, allowed, authorized rate of return, similar to electric utilities, but in the gas world, and it\u2019s set by the Railroad Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, the 10.4% is \u2013 that\u2019s the request of Texas Gas Service. But, since they filed the rate increase last summer, it\u2019s kind of the point of contention, right, in these sort of legal proceedings that the city of El Paso has lawyers who come in and say \u2013 and expert analysts \u2013 who say, \u201cNo, really your profit margin should be 9%.\u201d The Railroad Commission, their staffers say, \u201cWell, we think a 9.5% is more of a reasonable rate of return for you to earn off of customers, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, that might sound like a small difference, right? Maybe 1, 1.5% difference between that. But, really, if the Railroad Commission were to approve the 9% profit margin or shareholder profit margin that the city of El Paso is recommending, that would mean about $15 million less that customers pay to Texas Gas Service every year statewide. And, so, these small shifts in the rate of return are significant as far as the money that customers are paying to the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RELATED: Meta to build $1.5 billion data center in Northeast El Paso<\/a><\/p>\n

So, that\u2019s not set, right? The rate of return isn\u2019t set. We\u2019re going to see the Railroad Commission likely weigh in and issue a final decision in late January. So, we\u2019re still a couple of months out and we\u2019re going to see haggling and negotiations over that. But I think it\u2019s important to note that Texas Gas Service is requesting a 10.4% shareholder return since they last raised rates in the El Paso area in early 2023. Since then, they\u2019ve been operating with about a 9.6% profit margin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, I think from a customer\u2019s perspective, you could say, \u201cWell, we get it. You\u2019ve made investments here and elsewhere, and you need to bring in more money to pay off your investments you\u2019ve made in your system and infrastructure that delivers gas to customers, right? You spent money on that. We get it. You have to recoup it.\u201d I think a fair question in the minds of ratepayers and consumer advocates is \u201cWhy do you need an increase in your profit margin,\u201d right?\u00a0<\/p>\n

And when I spoke with Texas Gas Service representatives and employees a couple of nights ago, they basically said, \u201cLook, that\u2019s what we\u2019re requesting. We know we\u2019re not going to get that 10.4%,\u201d right? There\u2019s going to be this series of haggling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like I said, city of El Paso said 9% is more appropriate. The RRC Commission staff, who might be viewed as kind of the neutral party here, right, they recommend 9.5%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, I think that\u2019s an interesting component of all of this is that you have this rate of return that is essentially set by regulators and it\u2019s kind of an almost guaranteed rate of return. So, what should that be is going to be a question of discussion for the coming weeks. But like I said, the profit margin up to now for the last couple of years for Texas Gas Service here in El Paso has been about 9.6%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SIGN UP: Our free weekly newsletters deliver news like this straight to your inbox. Sign up now.<\/a><\/p>\n

I want to also touch on probably the most contentious issue beyond the profit that the company\u2019s allowed to make. The other contentious issue is this issue of consolidation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, Texas Gas Service, they operate several service areas. that are not contiguous around the state. I mentioned, obviously, El Paso, and they call it the West-North Service Area, but it\u2019s El Paso, it\u2019s other parts of West Texas, as well as some parts of the Panhandle, the Rio Grande Valley, and then they call it the Coastal Gulf Service Area that\u2019s kind of near Austin and a little bit south of there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, they\u2019re wanting to merge these areas into one large service area, right, where essentially rates are flat. And, so, I mentioned at the top the impact of this rate increase is not equal, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas Gas Service is essentially saying that, somehow, El Paso\u2019s rates have been too low and the rates elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley in particular have been, they\u2019ve been too high. And, so, as a result of this rate increase, basically, bills are going to be going down in the Rio Grande Valley for just about every household universally, and they\u2019ll be going up here. And, so, that\u2019s one of the biggest things that the city of El Paso, they hire all these \u2013 the city attorneys \u2013 they hire all of these expert witnesses and that\u2019s what they\u2019ve pushed back on a lot over the last several months, just battling over, is it really fair to charge customers the same rate across the state?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas Gas Service says, \u201cWell, look, our service technicians and our trucks and our equipment, they go all over the state, right? And, so, why should we be charging customers differently when our technicians will drive across and we effectively operate it as one service area?\u201d<\/p>\n

I think one interesting point that the city of El Paso has brought up is that, is it truly the same cost to deliver gas in El Paso relative to, say, a city in the lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas? We know there are differences in where the gas comes from, right, whether it\u2019s the Permian Basin or some other oil and gas producing area. And, so, there\u2019s differences in pressure, right, that affects the delivery. There\u2019s differences in miles of pipeline that it takes to transport gas from one place to another and into the service area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, that\u2019s been the biggest point of contention. And there\u2019s been hundreds if not thousands of pages filed in this rate case in front of the RRC debating this issue of is consolidation appropriate? Does it make sense? And really, I would say one of the arguments from Texas Gas Service that I found a little bit interesting was that essentially, by merging all of these three service areas and creating equal rates across them, you\u2019re spreading risk.<\/p>\n

That was the line from one Texas Gas Service employee, that if there\u2019s some sort of disaster or a big destruction of natural gas infrastructure, rather than one service area bearing that cost and having to raise bills to, for Texas Gas Service to pay to fix the system, they can sort of do that across the whole service area. Of course, if you\u2019re in El Paso, where we\u2019re not immune to natural disasters, but they\u2019re less likely to happen here, and something bad happens in another part of Texas, then we\u2019re on the hook for those repairs as well. So, it goes both ways, but that was one of the arguments from Texas Gas Service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another argument that they made about why this consolidation is appropriate is that in the future when they want to raise rates, it\u2019s a lot cheaper and easier to just raise rates across one service area than it is to do it in El Paso and in the Rio Grande Valley and in the area kind of around Austin. Like, that\u2019s three separate rate cases. And like I said at the top, they filed a 1,600-page document initially to raise rates. And then there\u2019s many hundreds and thousands of pages of testimony and calculations and formulas that go into subsequent filings, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, in the eyes of Texas Gas Service, it\u2019s a lot cheaper and easier to just do one rate increase. And something else to note is, as the cities and Texas Gas Service are battling it out, and debating profit margin and consolidation, all these different things, they\u2019re paying these expert Ph.D. economists, witnesses on both sides, they\u2019re paying them to go deliver testimony and to do these things. And, so, it\u2019s not a cheap price, right? I mean, the city attorneys are spending time, a lot of time on this case. So, in some ways, that\u2019s a valid argument, but still, I think whether that\u2019s enough of a reason to basically raise rates here and lower them elsewhere, I think it\u2019s a fair question. That\u2019s something the city of El Paso has really been pushing back on and saying, \u201cLook, charge us based on the cost of service for El Paso, not across the whole state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, I\u2019ll end on the consolidation part by just mentioning the Railroad Commission staff support consolidation. And, so, whether that means that the commissioners of the Railroad Commission will actually approve the consolidation is a different question, but the trend of the Railroad Commission has generally been to support these kinds of service area consolidation requests. We see the staff do that, and so that could point to the Railroad Commissioners potentially approving this consolidation and basically charging us a flat rate across the state. Again, the impact to El Pasoans, though, is significantly higher bills, and in general, lower bills elsewhere to pay for that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And before we move on, I just want to take a quick break to hear from one of our sponsors, the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors, and we\u2019ll be back in about 30 seconds.<\/p>\n

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Diego: OK, coming back, I also want to touch on an affordability assistance program that Texas Gas Service is requesting to essentially ease the impact of this rate increase on customers. So, Texas Gas Service, they\u2019re talking about establishing a pilot program that would be open to 30,000 customers statewide out of the roughly 700,000 customers that the gas utility serves across Texas. So, it would be a relatively small percentage of customers. Eligibility would essentially be the same as if you\u2019re eligible for SNAP or other government benefits like that. And people who are enrolled in this affordability program would get essentially a 25% discount on their bills, right? So, that\u2019s the first steps in, I think, Texas Gas Service, seeing the impact of the challenge to affordability that this rate increase presents. And, so, they\u2019re saying, \u201cOK, look, we\u2019ll try to do this and ease the burden on 30,000 customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether that goes to a broader pool of customers in the future and moves beyond this pilot phase, we\u2019re not sure. We\u2019re not even sure if it\u2019ll be implemented at all, which I\u2019ll mention in a second. So, there\u2019s that aspect of the affordability program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Texas Gas Service is also saying, \u201cHey, look, Railroad Commission, if you approve this rate increase, we\u2019ll also kick in $2 million into this fund, basically, that helps struggling customers pay their bills.\u201d And typically, this fund is entirely made-up of customer donations from around the state. And Texas Gas Service employees told me that typically it\u2019s about $100,000 donated to it (annually), right? So a fairly minimal amount, considering 700,000 customers statewide, only $100,000 typically donated to this, but they\u2019re saying \u201cWe\u2019ll put in $2,000,000 as a reserve fund to help customers weather emergencies and pay their bills.\u201d And, so, that\u2019s one minor step the company\u2019s taking to ease the impact here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s important to note though, again, going back to the Railroad Commission staff, who again, I kind of refer to as a little bit of a neutral party here, right? They\u2019re not necessarily arguing against the rate increase, but they\u2019re trying to tweak it and modify it. They don\u2019t like the affordability program that Texas Gas Service is proposing, and their argument is that essentially it\u2019s \u2013 every other customer who\u2019s not receiving the discount is subsidizing the discount for others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And I think this question of should utilities participate in this game of social welfare and redistribution and so forth is a \u2013 it\u2019s an ongoing debate, right? And I think there\u2019s a lot of people that say, \u201cYeah, utilities do have a role in ensuring that their customers can afford their bills and it\u2019s not going to force customers to choose between medicine or groceries or utility bills, right?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think there are others, particularly, like I\u2019m saying, the Railroad Commission staff and others who say, \u201cNo, that\u2019s not the game for utilities to play. You\u2019re delivering \u2013 you\u2019re just redistributing some wealth from some customers to others. Don\u2019t get involved in that and don\u2019t do it.\u201d And, so, I think it\u2019s very much up in the air of whether Texas Gas Service is able to implement this affordability assistance program and probably a good chance that it gets shot down. But I do want to note that could be part of it \u2013 that if this rate increase truly would present affordability challenges for customers, maybe there\u2019s a little bit of an out there. We\u2019ll see if it gets approved, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, so, I\u2019ll end here. I really want to, well, I\u2019ll talk about two more things, but particularly the Railroad Commission. I\u2019ve referred to them quite a bit, but I just want to offer a little bit more detail that the Railroad Commission, again, has nothing to do with railroads. It\u2019s strictly the state\u2019s oil and gas regulator. Very important in the state of Texas, obviously, a state that very much relies on the oil and gas industry. You want to have a competent and effective regulator, right? And, so, the Railroad Commission of Texas has three commissioners. They\u2019re all Republicans. They\u2019re all elected. And they\u2019re going to, as I said, weigh in on this and issue a decision in late January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The City Council of El Paso is holding a public hearing on November 17th. That \u2013 while it\u2019s valuable to share public information and offer a chance for input on this from both our city council reps as well as the public, it\u2019s essentially irrelevant, right? I mean, the arguments in this case have been made over the last five or six months in front of the Railroad Commission in very detailed filings made by both attorneys in the city attorney\u2019s office as well as outside attorneys the city has hired and many other parties, as I said, other cities have weighed in on this as well. And, so, that\u2019s really where the arguments have been made. And, so, the outcome of this hearing and the statements made are essentially irrelevant, right? But it\u2019s still an opportunity for people to offer feedback and thoughts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I just want to note, like, the City Council is technically a regulator of Texas Gas Service, but their authority is completely superseded by the Railroad Commission. So I just think that\u2019s important to note.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The other thing I want to mention is the Railroad Commission is essentially industry-friendly, right? Their track record historically, particularly these three commissioners in office, which is Christi Craddick, Wayne Christian and Jim Wright, they\u2019ve been generally very friendly to industry, unwilling to impose big sanctions on polluters or things like that, or do things that are unfriendly or unhelpful to the oil and gas industry. Which a lot of people think that\u2019s a good thing, right? It\u2019s an important engine in the economy. We don\u2019t want to hamstring them with burdens and fines and regulations and so forth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I also think it\u2019s important to note that, to varying degrees, the commissioners all have financial stakes in the companies they regulate, particularly Christi Craddick, whose father, Tom Craddick, is a longtime member of the Texas Legislature and is well-documented to have many, many investments and financial ties to the industry they regulate. And so, whether that should be allowed, I think, is an ongoing debate among activists and people who are critical of the oil and gas industry in Texas. But that\u2019s just a fact, is that the Railroad Commission is friendly to industry in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just as a side note, I mean, the Public Utility Commission of Texas is, at the moment, they\u2019re kind of weighing in on El Paso Electric\u2019s rate increase request, right? And, so, you\u2019ve seen there the PUC take some steps to \u2013 both with regard to this particular rate increase by EPE and other issues with EPE \u2013 you\u2019ve seen the PUC kind of come in and say, hey, for example, \u201cMake sure that customers aren\u2019t paying for infrastructure to serve data centers, right? That rates are unaffected by big data centers coming in. You have to do that to protect residential customers.\u201d We\u2019ve seen that kind of approach from the PUC, which isn\u2019t entirely industry-unfriendly, but we\u2019ve seen them take steps to try to, I guess, do things that would help small businesses and residential customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Railroad Commission, I think they\u2019re less willing to challenge industry and force them to do things. And the reason I bring this up is just to point out, nothing is set with the Texas Gas Service rate increase, but the track record and the disposition of the Railroad Commission would suggest that they\u2019re probably likely to issue this rate increase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps there will be moderate tweaks. We\u2019ve seen the Railroad Commission suggest some changes that would lower the impact a little bit from the $10 to $14 increase that\u2019s proposed in the initial application. We\u2019ve seen the Railroad Commission make some suggestions \u2013 or the staffers make some suggestions \u2013 that would minimize the impact a little bit. But I think that in general, it\u2019s safe to bet that the Railroad Commission of Texas will go ahead and approve this rate increase in some form and not moderate it in some big way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And again, we\u2019ll end here. I just want to mention, I\u2019ve alluded to this, but there are other rate increases on the horizon as well, right? A decision on this one could be coming in January, and shortly after, we could see gas bills rise in El Paso. We\u2019re expecting next month a decision from the Public Utility Commission of Texas on El Paso Electric\u2019s rate increase that could lift bills by north of $20 per month for the average household in El Paso. And, so, we\u2019ve got the gas rate increase coming, the El Paso Electric rate increase. It\u2019s not final yet. It could come in less than $20 a month, but there\u2019s going to be some increase there of some amount, whether it\u2019s $10, $15, $20, $25 even. We\u2019ll have to see in the next month or two. But that\u2019s on the horizon as well for early 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And then we\u2019ll learn next week about El Paso Water\u2019s rate increase, right? We don\u2019t have any information about how much they\u2019re planning to raise rates, but we know that El Paso Water has got a record amount of capital spending over the next year of $750 million budgeted. And, so, El Paso Water, just like El Paso Electric and Texas Gas Service, they\u2019re renovating and refurbishing and improving these systems that deliver these utilities to us that were built decades ago. And, so, we\u2019re seeing this really, really intense period of capital spending and construction and reinvestment. And so rates are going to rise for El Paso Water as well. And we\u2019ll learn the magnitude of that increase next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I think that it all pushes to a significant increase in bills on the horizon for El Pasoans. And that\u2019s something that I think is going to significantly challenge the household budgets, particularly for the lower income and the people that maybe are making 20% or 40% (area median income). People in the middle might be all right, but people at the levels below that I think could be really challenged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s no easy answers, right? And it\u2019s tough for a reporter like me when I\u2019m reporting on these issues and I\u2019m going through it and it\u2019s like, look, I understand the utilities\u2019 rationale generally, but there\u2019s \u2013 you turn around and think of the customer angle and the household angle, and there\u2019s no easy answers, right? And the affordability crisis that we heard \u2013 some people think it played a big role in recent elections in Texas and elsewhere. We all know about inflation and things like that.<\/p>\n

And, so, the degree to which these utility bills rise could really challenge El Pasoans, the affordability in El Paso. But the thing I\u2019m thinking of is even beyond this coming year, what rate increases come the year after and the year after? And is there a point at which bills in El Paso become unaffordable on a massive scale, right? And if so, I don\u2019t know if local organizations like Project Bravo that provide utility assistance, do they have the might to help on a big scale?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s something that is going to be a challenge and something that I think city leaders have to consider as they\u2019re looking at property taxes and other fees that could be on the horizon for city residents. How does that weigh against the cost presented by rising utility bills as well?\u00a0So, we\u2019ll leave it there. I just wanted to talk through this rate increase for a bit and preview these other rate increases on the horizon. Appreciate you listening. Again, my name is Diego Mendoza-Moyers. I\u2019m a reporter with El Paso Matters, and we hope that you\u2019ll tune into other episodes and read all of the reporting on elpasomatters.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

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