AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Austin Energy customers could see an increase of up to 7.6 percent on their bills, based on an initial proposal from the utility to begin a base rate review process.
In a release Monday, utility officials said they are seeking to increase base revenue by $48 million, based on the costs of providing electric service to more than 500,000 customer accounts during fiscal year 2021.
According to the release, the last time the utility increased its base rates was 2013.
The proposal calls for reducing the number of residential consumption tiers from five to three, increasing the residential customer charge from $10 to $25 to better recover fixed costs, and rolling outside-city residential customers into the same tier structure as those who are within the city.
Under the proposal, a residential customer that uses 860 kilowatt-hours would see an increase of $15.56 to their electric bill, based on the proposed changes.
Business customers would also see an increase in the customer charge, along with changes to rates depending on service class - small business, large industrial, and so on.
The rate review process will include community meetings over the next month, and a series of briefings and presentations through the course of the summer. The Electric Utility Commission and the City Council will hold meetings beginning in late October, before Council makes the final decision later this year.