The City of Dallas has negotiated with Atmos Energy for a rate hike that will cost the average residential customer less than a dollar per month. Company officials had originally proposed a much higher increase.
"The main drivers for this increase in rates was Atmos said it had invested approximately $280 million in new pipe and infrastructure within the city," said Nick Fehrenbach, Manager of Regulatory Affairs for the City of Dallas.
The company's initial proposed rate hike in January would have generated more than $17 million in new revenue in Dallas. That would have meant an increase on the average monthly residential bill of $5.09. The company amended its initial request to a net revenue gain of $9.2 million in March.
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The City of Dallas worked with an outside firm to evaluate the company's proposal and make a counter-offer. The agreement reached by both sides will result in an additional $1.9 million annually for Atmos.
"The average residential customer will see an increase of about 61cents (per month). That's less than one percent. For a commercial customer it's $1.48, and that's a little less than half of a percentage point," said Fehrenbach.
Council Members appeared pleased with the proposal when they were briefed about it on Monday.
"We went from a proposed $17 million increase and now you've negotiated down to a $1.9 million increase, which looks to be the smallest increase we've had since 2012," said Council Member Cara Mendelsohn.
The full Dallas City Council is scheduled to vote on the rate hike on June 9th.
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