El Paso Electric Looks to Increase Your Monthly Bill

Be prepared to have your electric bill go up in El Paso. It's not a guarantee this is going to happen yet, but El Paso Electric has sent a request for permission from state regulators to raise their rates by more than 13%, which would average out to about an extra $12 a month for the typical homeowner.

The rate hike request, which was filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, seeks to recoup a portion of what EPE outlined as almost a billion dollars worth of investments in its power generation, transmission, and distribution system.

During this past winter storm, much of the state of Texas was shut down due to power outages. Here in El Paso, we survived much better than most, but El Paso Electric wants to be prepared should something like that hit again and cause serious problems for El Paso. The UPC allows for rate hike requests every four years. El Paso Electric President and CEO Kelly Tomblin said:

We are sensitive to the timing of this filing, but we must act according to the process, rules and procedures set forth by the PUC.

When can we expect this rate hike to take place? Not for a while. The PUC could take anywhere from 6 months to a year to approve the rate hike.

I'm all for spending some extra money now to save money down the road to properly prepare for an emergency. But they had better make damn sure the money is maximized as best it can be. Don't jack up the prices now under the guise of preparing for the future, only to screw us down the road because you didn't use the money where it was needed.