Lufkin City Council Electric Bill Vote

** Update - Lufkin City Council resolved to join a coalition of cities opposing this Oncor Electric Delivery Company proposed rate increase.

There are two different people with their hands out when you pay your electric bill in Texas: the provider and the actual utility companies that deliver the power and maintain the grid.

Oncor is our utility company in the Lufkin area. It is routine for Oncor to raise its rates, but this time, the Lufkin City Council is considering delaying the rate increase.

Today (Tuesday), they will vote on delaying the increase until the end of October. According to KTRE, when that rate increase comes, customers using 1000 kWh monthly will notice their bill goes up $7 each month.

Small Monthly Increases Add Up Over The Year

Seven dollars is a meal for someone every month. Add it up over a year, and we could be paying $100 more per year for electricity.

If city council members vote to delay the increase until October, that will give Kristi Skillern, Lufkin's City attorney, an opportunity to file any objections to the increase.

"We don't have control over what the public utility commissioners do; we can at least voice our opposition to these rate increases," Skillern said. "The bill trickles down to our citizens, so the city gets involved to prevent that and get the lowest increase that we can."

Lufkin City Council Making Moves For Citizens

This is the first I have heard of a city pushing back against a utility provider on behalf of itself and its citizens in Texas. I am sure that it is fairly routine, but I didn't know the city had this power.