Texas Gas Service to charge El Paso customers less for February freeze under settlement

Vic Kolenc, El Paso Times
·2 min read

El Paso natural gas consumers will help Texas Gas Service pay for some of its extraordinary costs tied to last February’s big freeze, but much less than the company originally sought.

The city of El Paso and the Austin-based natural gas utility Monday agreed to settle their dispute over the utility’s proposed monthly surcharge for its West Texas service area.

Under the settlement, El Paso-area residential customers will pay an average $5.22 more per month for three years for a total $188, city officials reported.

Texas Gas Service officials calculate the monthly surcharge will average $4.85 per month for a total just under $175 for the three years. The city average is based on outdated data, a company spokesperson said.

Commercial and industrial customers will pay higher surcharge amounts.

The utility originally proposed charging West Texas residential customers an average $5.18 per month for a total $621.60 over 10 years.

Snow is shown Feb. 15 in El Paso. The city avoided the severe winter weather that hit much of the rest of the state.
Snow is shown Feb. 15 in El Paso. The city avoided the severe winter weather that hit much of the rest of the state.

The El Paso agreement is part of a broader settlement made between Texas Gas Service, eight other Texas natural gas utilities and other Texas cities, and the Texas Railroad Commission staff.

The settlement still has to be approved by the Railroad Commission, which regulates natural gas utilities in Texas. The commission is scheduled to vote on the matter Nov. 10.

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El Paso officials argued in filings with the Railroad Commission that under Texas Gas Service’s original proposal, El Paso-area customers would be subsidizing winter storm costs for the company’s other four Texas service areas hit much harder by last February’s winter storm.

The utility proposed recovering $257 million in natural gas costs tied to the winter storm from its five Texas regions.

Under the settlement, it will recover $59.7 million from its West Texas customers, and the additional $197.3 million from its other service areas.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Texas Gas Service lowers February freeze charge for El Paso customers