City Council Postpones Vote On Temporary El Paso Electric Rate Cut

Rates will stay the same for El Paso electric customers…for now.

Tuesday afternoon city council decided to postpone a vote that could have forced the utility to temporarily cut its rates by up to five percent.

City representatives decided they needed more time to review new information presented by El Paso Electric’s Chief Financial Officer David Carpenter.

“We would have liked to have a decision today simply because it creates additional uncertainty for our investors,” said Carpenter after the council meeting.

City council members will revisit the issue Nov. 15. They will decide whether to impose temporary rate cuts that would last until next year. As per the city’s request, next year the state will intervene to set a new rate for El Paso Electric or keep the current one.

Carpenter said El Paso Electric will ask the state for a rate increase during the case.

Although El Paso Electric has acknowledged its rates are among the highest in the state, the monopoly insists the rates are fair because customer bills are low compared to other communities. “The customers don’t pay the rates, they pay the bills and if you look at the bills, they are the lowest in the state,” said Carpenter.

However, city representative Cortney Niland challenged the company’s answers during Tuesday’s meeting. She said she still does not see why the company can not cut rates if its profits are steady.

El Paso Electric has explained the rates are as high as they are because of El Paso’s unique energy consumption patterns and production costs.