Briefing: Atmos Energy settles 2025 rate case with ATM coalition; Austin residential customers to see base‑rate decrease

City staff and outside counsel provided a high‑level briefing to the Resource Management Commission on Atmos Energy’s 2025 rate case and a related discussion with the utility’s Mid‑Tex division.

Freddie Herrera of Hera Law and Associates, who represented the ATM (Texas Municipalities) coalition for about 50 cities, described the procedural timeline and the settlement outcomes. “The city will have … 125 days to make a decision,” Herrera said, explaining the local jurisdictional timeline relative to the Railroad Commission. Herrera said Atmos initially sought approximately $16 million in additional revenue for the ATM cities but the settlement reduced the increase to roughly $4 million. He emphasized that a central driver was the negotiated return on equity: “Atmos was seeking a return on equity of 10.65%… where we landed was a return on equity of 9.8.”

Herrera and Atmos’ representatives explained the rate design tradeoffs. Under Atmos’ initial proposal, the company proposed to place most of the increase on residential customers. The settlement altered that allocation: Herrera said residential customers under the…