RATES
In comparison to nearby cities, New Braunfels Utilities currently has a higher monthly bill. This is based on 1,200 kilowatt-hours for electric, 6,000 gallons for water, and 4,600 gallons for wastewater. More information on the proposed rate change can be found at www.nbutexas.com/rate-plan. The following comparison shows bills from each city’s utility for the FY 2022-2023 year. COMPARISON
ELECTRIC
WATER WASTEWATER TOTAL
The average residential utility bill will increase by 13.73% or $33.46 between FY 2022-23 and FY 2024-25 after New Braunfels City Council approved the two-year rate plan on April 10. Electric Water Wastewater AVERAGE BILL INCREASE This is based on 1,200 kWh for electric, 6,000 gallons of water and 4,600 gallons for wastewater.
New Braunfels
$243.62
$158.78
$27.56
$57.28
Austin
$237.91
$154.36
$37.02
$46.53
San Marcos
$219.63
$117.11
$53.76
$48.76
Seguin
$230.12
$127.98
$51.81
$50.33
San Antonio
$194.87
$134
$37.25
$23.62
SOURCE: NEW BRAUNFELS UTILITIESCOMMUNITY IMPACT
$277.08
$300
City Council workshop on the recom- mendations the group made to the NBU board. “The Rate Advisory Committee is recommending spreading out rate [changes] over a set period of time rather than exposing ratepayers to potentially signicant swings in rates, whether up or down, year over year,” Meadows said. The committee recommended NBU’s bill assistance program fund- ing increase alongside the increase in utility rates to provide additional support to customers. Some of the other recommenda- tions to be implemented include focusing on conservation e orts and creating new customer classes for water users with the intention of lowering certain customers’ bills. Among those are large commercial water customers and those who use less than 3,000 gallons per month. “As you consider the Rate Advisory Committee feedback and [what] NBU is proposing to you today, remember about 80% of it is about capital … .” Meadows said. “Things have to get worse before they get better. But I’d rather things get worse than have sewage running down our streets.”
employees, but according to a work- force planning study, it needs to have 462 employees to be considered fully sta ed. There are plans within the ve-year operating budget to help fund additional sta . “We have about a 30% decit in full-time employees right now,” Tay- lor said. “And it’s a problem for deliv- ering services at the level that folks expect of us.” The utility is also planning to invest in new technology and con- tinues to plan its new headquarters, which would move it out of the build- ing in the Main Plaza downtown. In the future, NBU is planning to focus on meeting service expecta- tions of the community and increas- ing its prociency with distributed energy resources, such as solar and electric vehicles. “Power is very expensive during the hottest part of the day, right in the summer,” Taylor said. “If there are enough distributed energy resources in the community … that lowers the whole cost for electricity for the entire community.”
Mayor Rusty Brockman said things have not been easy for the utility company since Winter Storm Uri occurred in February 2021, but com- munity input and the formation of the committee has led to improve- ments for NBU. Brockman said the future capital improvement projects, which take up 73% of the $1.41 bil- lion ve-year operating budget, are imperative to the city. “There’s no way on God’s green earth that I want to continue to kick this can down the road for my kids and my grandkids, or your kids to have to deal with,” he said. “This is a big issue moving forward. We’ve got the opportunity as a community to work together and make it happen.” New Braunfels resident Loree Schrank spoke at the April 3 work- shop against the rate increases. “For now, over three years, I and others have come before you and have asked you to put a moratorium on development until our infrastruc- ture and stu can all get caught up,” Schrank said. “We’ve been ignored. Now we’re going to pay the price for it.” Looking forward According to Taylor, NBU has 353
$260.52
$243.62
$250
$200
$150
$100
$50
$0
Fiscal Year
AVERAGE RATE INCREASE Average increase of utility rates over all customer classes including residential and commercial.
FY 2023-24
4.8%
7.3% 9.1%
FY 2024-25
5.9%
7.3% 13.4%
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
SOURCE: NEW BRAUNFELS UTILITIES COMMUNITY IMPACT
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NEW BRAUNFELS EDITION • MAY 2023
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