All told, annual revenues will increase by $565 million, although that’s $263 million less than the amount initially sought by the North Texas utilty.
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A proposed Oncor rate increase has been slashed by more than 30 percent under a deal negotiated with the utility by cities and approved on April 17 by the Texas Public Utility Commission.
All told, annual revenues will increase by $565 million, although that’s $263 million less than the amount initially sought by the North Texas utilty.
The PUC also approved a return on equity of 9.75 percent and capital structure of 56.5 percent debt and 43.5 percent equity. This is significantly lower than Oncor’s proposed return on equity and capital structure, and will result in lower rates and less profit than the utility otherwise would have received.
Other details include:
- A rate increase of 7.8 percent for the Residential rate class. Oncor originally requested a 12.6 percent increase for this class.
- A 2.9 percent decrease for the Secondary less-than-10 kW rate class. Oncor originally requested a 0.92 percent decrease for this rate class.
- A 6.4 percent increase for the Secondary greater-than-10kW rate class. Oncor originally requested a 10.55 percent increase for this rate class.
- A 27.9 percent increase for the Lighting Class. This is less than half the increase originally sought by Oncor and will reduce what cities otherwise would have paid for electricity for their street lighting under Oncor’s original rate proposal.
- The Lighting Class also is receiving a direct $5 million credit. This credit was included in the rate settlement to moderate the impact to cities for paying for street lighting. This credit also reduces the overall revenue increase of $565 million under the PUC approved rate change to a net increase of $560 million.
The agreed rate increase takes effect starting on June 1. More information can be found on the PUC website, under Docket No. 58306.