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Council approves Atmos rate settlement under regional rate-review mechanism; Warner recused
Summary
Flower Mound approved a settlement under the cities' rate-review mechanism for Atmos Energy; a council member recused and staff said rejecting the settlement would require pursuing the case before the Public Utility Commission.
The council voted to approve a settlement with Atmos Energy under the cities' collective rate-review mechanism, retaining original jurisdiction for the town in Atmos rate proceedings. The vote followed staff and consultant recommendations and passed after one councilmember declared a recusal on the item.
Staff explained the rate-review mechanism gives the town and a coalition of cities negotiating leverage that would not be available under the utility's automatic rate-increase process (GRIP). Town staff said that failing to approve the settlement would put the town in a position of litigating rates before the Texas Public Utility Commission, a more costly and riskier path.
Council members expressed frustration at multi-year increases in residential customer bills and discussed differences in how rate changes affect residential versus commercial customers, but they ultimately authorized staff to accept the negotiated settlement as recommended by municipal consultants and the steering committee.
