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Houston City Council rejected CenterPoint’s request to raise natural gas bills by $5 per month on Wednesday, following the advice of consultants who called it a raw deal for ratepayers.
The vote tees up a fight at the Texas Railroad Commission, where CenterPoint is expected to keep pursuing a $39 million rate increase the company has tied to investments, such as new meters with automatic gas shutoff valves.
Council also sent a proposal to extend the operating hours for parking meters to committee, following complaints by downtown businesses that such a move could adversely affect customer traffic.
On CenterPoint’s rate request, advisors for the city say the cost of that increase would not be shared equally. As part of a simultaneous corporate consolidation, residents of some regions such as Beaumont would see their rates drop $5 while Houstonians would see their rates rise by the same amount.
City Council rejected the rate hike as part of its consent agenda, meaning there was no debate before the request unanimously was denied.
Next stop, Railroad Commission
CenterPoint said Wednesday’s vote, which was expected, will prompt the company to appeal to the state Railroad Commission, where it already has a pending request for the rate hike.
The city says it intends to continue fighting against the increase when its case is consolidated with the statewide request at the commission.
In filings with the commission, city utility advisors have argued the consolidation, coupled with the rate hike, effectively will result in a $53 million subsidy from Houston and its suburbs for other parts of the state.
CenterPoint says the consolidation is necessary to create greater efficiencies across its operations, but the city says the only savings the company has identified are through fewer regulatory filings.
The commission has yet to hold a formal hearing on the utility company’s request. The company was granted a pause on its request last week, in response to a filing in which it said it was nearing a settlement with the city.
The city still is working toward a settlement with CenterPoint, Billy Rudolph, the chief of staff for Houston’s Department of Administration and Regulatory Affairs, said Wednesday.
Parking plan paused
Separately, council members hit pause on a plan to extend parking meters’ hours of operation that has sparked opposition from downtown businesses and service industry workers.
District J Councilmember Edward Pollard proposed the plan in response to the city’s structural budget deficit, which could be exacerbated by Mayor John Whitmire’s proposed $1.5 billion settlement with firefighters.
Pollard co-sponsored the parking meter proposal with Councilmembers Tiffany Thomas and Fred Flickinger. The trio placed the proposal directly on the council agenda using the new powers granted to council members under Proposition A, a charter amendment approved by voters in November.
Pollard’s proposal drew objections from Theater District officials who said Tuesday that it could threaten the area’s post-Hurricane Harvey comeback. The council also heard from a bartender who said it would represent a big hit to her take-home pay.
District H Councilmember Mario Castillo, who represents part of downtown, moved to refer Pollard’s request to the newly created Proposition A committee.
Castillo’s motion carried 13-4, with support from Whitmire, but not before Pollard objected to the idea of sending a member-proposed measure to committee. Pollard argued that sending ordinances to committee would run afoul of the will of voters when they passed Proposition A.
“We’re going to turn City Hall into the state legislature. And we know all the dysfunction that happens in the state legislature,” Pollard said.
That jab prompted a response from Whitmire, who spent 50 years in the Capitol before his election as mayor.
“It’s a deliberative body. They have a committee system that works,” Whitmire said. “You can offer amendments before the bill is passed. It’s a pretty open process.”
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