Rate Increase: EP Electric asked for $40 million, City negotiated down to $14.5 million

El Paso City Council approved a settlement after months of negotiations between El Paso Electric and the City on a rate hike for customers.

In February, the utility company proposed a nearly $40-million dollar rate increase, arguing it needed to recover its investment in the new power station at Montana and Zaragoza.

Monday, the City and EPE settled on a $14.5 million dollar increase, $25.5 million less than the figure the utility originally asked for.

The original proposal was to increase a homeowner’s monthly bill by more than $9.

Instead, the average residential customer will pay anywhere from $3 to $5 more a month.

Solar customers – an attempt to create a whole new rate class for solar customers – was rejected as part of the settlement.

The settlement still needs to be filed with administrative law judges. A final order is expected to be issued later this year.