by WES FERGUSON
Water and natural gas utility rates are going up for customers in Kyle and Buda, although the city councils in both towns have maneuvered to delay the gas rate hike for 45 days.
CenterPoint Energy says it is upping the base charge for natural gas bills by $1.33 a month, affecting 6,700 customers in Kyle and 2,000 in Buda. Because the interim hike will help CenterPoint recover costs related to infrastructure improvements, the company is not required to file a traditional rate increase request under the state’s utility code, according to the Gas Reliability Infrastructure Program.
“It doesn’t look too good,” Buda Assistant City Manager Brian LaBorde told council members at last week’s meeting. “But it’s prudent to delay the increase as much as possible.”
Council members then voted unanimously to enforce the waiting period. The Kyle City Council also voted earlier this month to delay the rate hike, which CenterPoint spokeswoman Alicia Dixon said is not unusual.
“The GRIP process includes the option for a city to suspend the filing for up to 45 days to review and study the filing before it goes into effect,” she said in an email. “These cities are simply taking that option available to them.”
The rate hike will take effect July 13.
Also at the Buda City Council meeting on May 15, City Manager Kenneth Williams said the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority has given notice that it plans to raise water rates 9.6 percent effective Oct. 1. Entities that use GBRA water from Canyon Lake, including the cities of Kyle and Buda, would have to decide how much of that increase to pass along to end users.
In a letter sent to area cities on May 3, GBRA General Manager William E. West Jr. said the rate hike is in response to debt service, operating costs, conservation efforts and the expenses associated with an ongoing legal battle with a group seeking more freshwater inflows from the Guadalupe River into San Antonio Bay north of Corpus Christi.
“While raising rates is never an easy thing to do, in this circumstance, GBRA must expend the funds necessary to protect its water rights which in turn will allow us to honor our water commitment to you in the years ahead,” he said.
