Austin City Council approves base rate charge increase for Austin Energy customers

AUSTIN, Texas – Austin Energy customers will pay even more money on their electric bills each month.

Austin City Council approved increasing the base rate charge on a 7 to 4 vote. This comes after customers already saw a $15 increase on their bill last month.

Mayor Adler says the average customer should now expect to pay an additional $4 per month over the next three years. This is in addition to the $15 bump for the power supply adjustment and regulatory charge, which was added starting on November’s bill.

The base rate increase covers owning and working the electric system. The increase will close the current gap for how much it costs to run the system versus how much power is being used by customers.

At the meeting, Austin residents urged for the lowest rate increase possible.

“To minimize the harm to low income residents of Austin, we the people of Austin need you all to oppose any customer charge higher than $13,” an Austin resident said.

“We have to keep it as close to $10 as possible,” he added.

The increased base rate will go into effect next year.