Electric Bills Poised For Jump After Winter Storm

Many Electric customers across Fayette County can expect higher utility bills due the hike in wholesale electric prices during Winter Storm Uri in February.

Some customers will feel the effect for years. Customers in the City of Flatonia will see their monthly bills increase by anywhere from $4 to $50 over the next three years. The city councils of La Grange and Schulenburg may consider bill increases later this month.

La Grange City Manager Shawn Raborn said he initially did not expect a large increase to his City’s cost for electricity during the storm. La Grange, like many power utilities in the area, gets wholesale electricity from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). LCRA’s coal-fired Fayette Power Project near La Grange provides less than half of LCRA’s total power output. LCRA generates a large portion of its wholesale electricity at several gas-fired plants across central Texas.

“Gas prices went exorbitant,” Raborn said. “LCRA initially did not believe they had much exposure (to high prices), but they did in the end.”

LCRA, like other wholesale power providers across Texas, passed those higher costs down to the retail market it serves, including more than 30 cities and electric cooperatives across Central Texas. Now the end-users will pick up the tab.

Raborn said the La Grange City Council will consider bill increases along with other options to offset the cost at a meeting scheduled for May 24.

Schulenburg City Administrator Tami Walker said her City has kept electric rates flat while monitoring the financial impact.

“There has been much discussion with several of the state agencies regarding how to miti gate and allocate the financial impacts from the storm,” Walker said. “The City of Schulenburg has chosen to continue maintaining current rates to customers until the final impact is known. At that time, which the City expects will be around the end of May, rates will be adjusted, if necessary, to account for the financial impacts.”

Fayette Electric Cooperative said rate changes would be minimal to its customers.

“In February 2021, Fayette Electric Cooperative experienced financial impacts related to Winter Storm Uri that swept through Texas the week of February 15 through February 19,” said FEC General Manager Nietsche. “During that week, FEC experienced cost increases related to Ancillary Services (ERCOT reliability charges) that were unexpected. Because of hedging strategies that have been employed by FEC, however, the process of passing those charges through to members requires minimal, if any, rate changes to FEC Members, resulting in minimal financial impact to members. FEC expects to recover all of the unexpected charges by the end of 2021 and will reevaluate their costs to members in the first quarter of 2022.”