City staff recommends approving negotiated settlement in Atmos Energy rate‑review filing; council members press on affordability and service

City staff and outside consultants told the Richardson City Council the Atmos Energy Rate Review Mechanism (RRM) filing submitted in April produced a negotiated settlement that reduces the utility’s initial filing from about $245 million in requested annual revenue to just over $205 million, and staff recommended the council adopt that settlement during the RRM review process.

Why it matters: The settlement, if approved, would change Atmos billed rates for customers in Richardson and surrounding MidTex service territory; staff said the average residential customer would see about a 9.3% increase in their bill (roughly $8 per month based on average usage) and the average commercial customer about 6.6% (roughly $26 per month). Council members raised sharp questions about affordability, the split of the increase between fixed customer charges and volumetric consumption charges, and the limits of the city’s options if officials reject the settlement.

What staff reported - Todd Gastorf, Richardson’s director of finance, said Atmos’ April filing requested roughly $245 million to recover 2024 capital investments across MidTex. Staff and the Atmos steering committee and consultants negotiated a settlement reducing the request by more than 16% to approximately $205 million. - Gastorf said Atmos invested about $1.4…