Speak up against El Paso Electric’s Rate Case!
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Mail it before August 1, 2025, to:
Public Utility Commission of Texas
RE: El Paso Electric, Docket Control No: 57568
Central Records
P.O. Box 13326
Austin, TX 78711-3326
What does El Paso Electric want?
El Paso Electric wants to increase its profits at our expense. They also want to increase the rates for residential, solar and government consumers.
Residential consumers will see an average yearly increase of 22% in their electric bills.
You will pay more. El Paso Electric is proposing an average monthly increase from $96 to $119, or 23%. Based on our estimates, since EPE has not provided any, the proposed electricity rate increase will cause 40% of El Paso County households, 118,536 households and approximately 341,000 people, to exceed the recommended fair ratio of energy bill to income ratio. This means 40% of families in El Paso will struggle to pay their electricity bill. If we have the extreme heat of 2023, we will have even higher bills.
We are requesting that the State require Applicants to provide an online tool for people to figure out how they will be impacted by proposed rate increases (“bill estimator”). Since that requirement does not yet exist and EPE has not made such a tool available to the public, we created a spreadsheet with formulas and numbers based on EPE’s current charges and fees, bills from actual EPE customers, and numbers from EPE's Application to the Public Utility Commission of Texas under Docket Control Number 57568 (the current rate case). Please note that EPE has not reviewed our calculations, and we cannot and do not guarantee their accuracy. We welcome feedback if you identify any discrepancies.
👇 We ran these calculations for:
A single person living in a one-bedroom unit close to downtown.
A person with a disability who uses medical equipment that must stay plugged in continuously.
A family of 5 living in a home in Montana Vista using the community solar program.
A family of 4 living in a home in Far East El Paso using solar panels that they paid for.
NOTE: Electrical energy is charged per kilowatt-hour (kWh). A kilowatt-hour is a basic unit of the electrical energy consumed in households, businesses, and other entities. The average residence in El Paso consumes 660 kWh each month. These estimates assume that the customers will use the same amount of electricity each month next year that they used this year. If next year is as hot as 2023 was, we estimate a 20% increase in our usage of electricity.
Apartment
Renter uses little electricity: 244 kWh average per month
Total increase for the year: $161.36 or 31%
Monthly rate increase range: 21%-35%
Home
Family of 5 uses EPE’s Community Solar Program
Total increase for the year: $306 or 20%
Monthly rate increase range: 5%-39%
Home
Family of 4 uses solar panels and sells extra energy to EPE
Total increase for the year: $92 or 23%
Monthly rate increase range: 0%-67%.
El Paso Electric Consumer Testimonials
Apartment
Uses Little Electricity
“I live in a one-bedroom apartment near downtown by myself.
From early June to July of this year, 2025, I only used 356 kWh and my bill was still $58.26.
If El Paso Electric increases our rates as much as they want to AND I use the same amount of electricity from early June to July next year, my bill will be $78.83.
That means my bill will go up $20.09 or 34% over the same period.
My bill over the whole year will increase from $514 to $676, which is $161 or 31% more.
If 2026 brings extreme heat like 2023 did, my bill for July could be as high as $91.”
— Paul
Home
Residential Rooftop Solar Consumer
“I live in a single-family home in the Far East with my family of four. We have solar panels and use electricity only for our appliances and other essentials. We do not use natural gas or propane.
We spent $41,000 on solar panels.
From July 2024 to June 2025, our solar panels created more electricity than we used. That was a total of 2,044 kWh.
That extra energy went back to El Paso Electric.
EPE paid us $33 for this extra electricity at a rate of $0.016 per kWh.
Then, EPE turned around and sold this electricity to other customers at a higher cost. They sold it for between $0.092 and $0.107 per kWh.
This means they charged other consumers between $188 to $219 for electricity that our home created. EPE netted between $155 and $186.
In addition, we were forced to pay a minimum monthly bill of $30.25 even though we created more energy than we used from panels that we paid for and that don’t pollute. This fee costs us an additional $142 over the year.
If the EPE rate increase goes through, households with solar panels will have to pay a new “Demand Charge,” in addition to the other rate increases that all households will have to pay.
For our house, all of these increases will make our average monthly bills go up 15%, but for the month of July, our bill will go up 67%. If EPE keeps the same rate for paying us for the excess energy we sell them, they will net as much as 860% for that energy, since they will give us $33 for the excess energy and turn around and sell it for as much as $220.”
— Mario
Home
Residential Community Solar Consumer
“I live in a single-family home in the Montana Vista neighborhood with my family of five. We live right next to El Paso Electric’s power plant. Every time most people turn on their lights or use electricity, my community breathes in those toxic emissions. We decided to subscribe to the Community Solar Program because we want to do our part to fight climate change. We used 1205 kWh from mid-May to mid-June 2025, this year. Our bill was $148. If EPE gets its way and we use the same amount of electricity next year, our bill for the period from mid-May to mid-June will be $206. That’s $58 more.
If we have another extremely hot summer like in 2023, we will use 20 percent more energy to cool our house from mid-June to mid-July, and my bill for July could go as high as $244, nearly $100 more and twice what we pay now.
I will pay between $7 and $58 more each month and $306 more for the entire year. This is between 5% and 39% percent more each month.”
— Ralph
El Paso Electric wants to increase its profits at the expense of solar consumers.
Currently, solar consumers (people who have spent tens of thousands of dollars on solar panels on their homes or businesses) pay $30.25 per month for being connected to the grid. When the sun goes down, they have to use and pay for EPE’s electricity unless they have a battery and enough solar energy to not rely on EPE. Now, EPE wants to charge solar users a Demand Charge that will increase the monthly fee to about $33 per month.
EPE does not pay solar consumers fairly for the extra electricity they generate. EPE pays solar consumers $0.02/kWh and then resells it to other users for $0.10/kWh or more
EPE should not punish solar consumers. The City’s Climate Action Plan identifies switching from fossil fuel-generated energy to solar energy as one of the key solutions for bringing down greenhouse gases and hot temperatures. In addition, more solar energy means lower electricity costs, more jobs, better air quality, and better health.
EPE should invest in a battery program for solar consumers so they do not have to rely on EPE’s power plants.
El Paso Electric wants to increase its profits at the expense of Rate 41 users, which include EPISD, the County of El Paso, the City of El Paso, and other government entities. You end up paying for this through your taxes.
El Paso Electric wants to increase its profits at the expense of our health and environment.
EPE wants to charge us more for a problem of its own creation: hotter temperatures.
1. EPE’s use of fossil fuels at its power plants is responsible for more than 30% of the area’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, which contribute to the heat that forces us to use our air conditioners more, creating a vicious cycle.
2. Hotter temperatures have resulted in more hospitalizations. The average daily temperature was 89 degrees from early June to early August in 2023. This was 6 degrees hotter than in 2021. From early June to early August in 2021, the city received 52 heat-related calls that led to 48 people being hospitalized. From early June to early August in 2023, the city received 152 heat-related calls, and 109 people were hospitalized. We saw three times as many heat-related calls and more than twice as many people hospitalized from 2021 to 2023.
3. Hotter temperatures have resulted in more deaths in our community. El Paso lost 95 people to heat-related deaths, or an average of 4.3 per year, from 1999 to 2022 (23 years). In just one year, 2023, 11 people died from heat-related complications, nearly three times the yearly average during the previous 23 years.
4. People with certain disabilities are especially at risk of having complications due to hot temperatures .
5. GHG emissions also cause drought and winds, which then cause more frequent and stronger dust storms.
6. Dust storms result in more hospitalizations for mental health episodes, strokes, heart conditions, and respiratory issues.
We can use our collective power to stand up to El Paso Electric
El Paso Electric (EPE) cannot increase its prices without getting permission from the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT).
EPE is the Applicant in a “rate case,” which is a legal process before the PUCT. As consumers, we are already paying for the company’s expenses in the rate case, including attorneys’ fees and meals as “Rate Case Expense Surcharge.” EPE has asked the PUCT for permission to collect at least $4.3 million in total from consumers for this surcharge.
Many organizations have entered in opposition to the rate case. They are called Intervenors and include:
Rate 41 consumers, which include EPISD, the County of El Paso, and the City of El Paso. Additional Rate 41 consumers include El Paso County Community College District, Clint Independent School District, Fabens Independent School District, San Elizario Independent School District, and Socorro Independent School District.
Solar Joint Advocates, which include Solar United Neighbors (SUN), Amanecer People’s Project, and Empowering Area Communities & Households (EACH).
Commercial consumers.
As consumers of El Paso Electric, we have the right to send comments to the PUCT. People who send comments are called “Protesters.”
Sembrando Esperanza has a goal of submitting 1000 written public comments by August 1, 2025. These public comments are important to show the PUCT and EPE the human impact of increasing rates and to show our elected officials that El Pasoans are taking note of whether they will stand up for us and our environment.
📣 Here are 3 different ways to submit your comments:
Download the form, fill it out & mail it to PUCT before August 1st
Be sure to send it to 👇
Public Utility Commission of Texas
RE: El Paso Electric, Docket: Control No: 57568
Central Records
PO Box 13326
Austin, TX 78711-3326
Fill it out on the PUCT website
Control number is 57568
Please note that your contact information (address) will be part of the public record. You will need to upload a document.
Email or call your elected officials
We want elected officials to fight for their rates and our rates.
You can find your elected officials on El Paso County’s Elections Department website:
https://epcountyvotes.com/elected-officials-and-candidate-information/elected-officials