Electric customers outside of Bryan/College Station served by Entergy in Brazos and ten other counties may be paying more next year.
Entergy has filed a rate increase request with the Texas Public Utility Commission that calls for the average residential customer paying an additional $14.37 a month.
The PUC expects a decision within the next six months.
Entergy’s Texas service area includes customers in Brazos and all surrounding counties, including:
Brazos County: The Texas Word Speedway property and Industrial Park along with the area to the rear of the speedway. There are also a few customers near the Brazos/ Washington county lines near Navasota.
Grimes County: Navasota – Courtney – Anderson – Plantersville – Iola – Bedias – Singleton – Roans Prairie – Shiro – Richards – Todd Mission – and some of the rural areas.
Robertson County: Calvert – Franklin – Bremond – Mumford – a few customers on the south end of the City of Hearne – and some of the rural areas.
Burleson County: Somerville and about 30 customers inside the City of Caldwell along with some of the rural areas.
Leon County: Normangee and some of the rural immediately around Normangee.
Washington County: Washington on the Brazos State Park and the rural area around the park known as Old Washington. We also have a few customers in the Independence area.
Madison County: Madisonville – Midway – North Zulch – some of the rural area – and along with the south tip of the City of Normangee.
Milam County: Gause Area
Limestone County: Kosse and rural area immediately around Kosse.
Falls County: Rural customers located between Bremond and Kosse.
Waller County: Rural area south of Hempstead.
Here is Entergy’s news release:
Entergy Texas, Inc. today filed a plan with the Public Utility Commission of Texas that would allow it to keep up with the growth of its Texas service territory and ensure a sufficient supply of reliable power for customers.
As filed, the plan calls for an additional $112 million in annual revenue supporting increased capital investment in the company’s electricity infrastructure from 2009-2011.
From July 2007 through June 2009, Entergy Texas invested $261.8 million to complete transmission and distribution capital projects. The company plans to invest an additional $664 million in its Texas service territory over the next three years.
In an attempt to lower bills in the future, Entergy is proposing a remedy to costly rate cases by asking that all purchased capacity costs—including both purchased capacity costs already in base rates and new purchased capacity costs—be recovered through a rider rather than through base rate increases.
Each rate case costs customers about $12.5 million. Fewer rate cases will save customers money. A rider will not reduce Public Utility Commission oversight. The commission will continue to regulate the company.
Purchased power is an important part of how the electric market operates today as the result of the emergence of a wholesale market. In the past, electric utilities powered America by making electricity at their own generating plants, then sending it out on their own transmission and distribution lines to homes and businesses in the clearly defined areas they served.
That model has changed dramatically since the mid-1990s with the emergence of a wholesale power industry that often makes it possible for utilities to provide electricity at a lower cost by buying it from independent power producers.
Entergy Texas is taking advantage of that opportunity by purchasing power on the wholesale market and also by entering contracts that ensure reliable power into the future. Three recent contracts include the following:
- Calpine- Carville, 242.5 megawatts
- Conoco Phillips, 100 megawatts
- Sam Rayburn Dam Electric Cooperative, 225 megawatts
Currently, purchased power capacity costs are recovered through base rate increases.
This makes it necessary to file rate cases more frequently.
If approved as filed, the average monthly 1,000 kilowatt-hour residential bill would increase by $14.37.
Entergy Texas, Inc. provides electricity to more than 400,000 customers in 27 counties.