Arlington and other cities across North Texas are opposing Oncor’s move to increase rates for both residential and street lighting electricity.
Oncor, which builds and maintains infrastructure like power lines and substations, proposed a rate increase of 12.3% for residential and 51% for street lighting, according to a staff report prepared for council.
The new rates would see residential bills go up by about $7.90 per month on average, according to the report. The increase would see Oncor bring in $834 million more in revenue, a 13% increase more than with current rates.
Texas law allows cities to work with the Oncor Cities Steering Committee and the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to negotiate Oncor’s rate increases, according to David Johnson, an assistant city attorney with Arlington.
Arlington’s council voted Tuesday to approve a resolution denying the rate increase.
Johnson told KERA in an emailed statement that the resolution will now go to the Oncor Cities Steering Committee, a coalition of 172 cities in Oncor’s service area. The coalition works to jointly intervene in proceedings about utilities, like Oncor’s rate increase.
The group will work with the Public Utilities Commission to negotiate the new rates.
“Historically in past rate cases, the group has usually come to an agreement and the matter is presented to the PUC for final approval,” Johnson wrote in the statement.
The Oncor Cities Steering Committee said in a news release that the rate increase was filed with the PUC about a year ahead of the 2027 deadline.
According to the release, Oncor currently makes around $6.4 billion a year. The rate change is the latest in more than a dozen other increases since 2021, including a $106.3 million distribution cost recovery factor approved earlier this year.
In the last five years, the PUC has approved more than $1 billion in Oncor rate increases over the last five years, the committee said in the news release.
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