Title
Resolution - A Resolution of the City of Mansfield, Texas Suspending the June 17, 2022 Effective Date of Oncor Electric Delivery Company’s Requested Rate Change to Permit the City Time to Study the Request and to Establish Reasonable Rates
.Requested Action
Staff requests that the Council consider adopting this resolution, thus suspending the June 17th effective date.
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Council adopt the resolution.
Description/History
Oncor Electric Delivery Company ("Oncor" or "the Company") filed an application on or about May 13, 2022 with cities retaining original jurisdiction seeking to increase system-wide transmission and distribution rates by about $251 million or approximately 4.5% over present revenues. The Company asks the City to approve an 11.2% increase in residential rates and a 1.6% increase in street lighting rates. If approved, a residential customer using 1,300 kWh per month would see a bill increase of about $6.02 per month.
The resolution suspends the June 17, 2022 effective date of the Company's rate increase for the maximum period permitted by law to allow the City, working in conjunction with the Steering Committee of Cities Served by Oncor, to evaluate the filing, determine whether the filing complies with law, and if lawful, to determine what further strategy, including settlement, to pursue.
The law provides that a rate request made by an electric utility cannot become effective until at least 35 days following the filing of the application to change rates. The law permits the City to suspend the rate change for 90 days after the date the rate change would otherwise be effective. If the City fails to take some action regarding the filing before the effective date, Oncor's rate request is deemed administratively approved.
Justification
The City of Mansfield is a member of a 169-city coalition known as the Steering Committee of Cities Served by Oncor ("Steering Committee"). The Steering Committee has been in existence since the late 1980s. It took on a formal structure in the early 1990s when cities served by the former TXU gave up their statutory right to rate case expense reimbursement in exchange for higher franchise fee payments. Empowered by city resolutions and funded by per capita assessments, the Steering Committee has been the primary public interest advocate before the Public Utility Commission, the Courts, and the Legislature on electric utility regulation matters for the last 30 years.
Although Oncor has increased rates many times over the past few years, this is the first comprehensive base rate case for the Company since March 2017.
Funding Source
N/A
Prepared By
Jeff Price, Director of Utilities
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