As temperatures rise, so do utility rates

[TexasStooge]

By KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8

Hold on to your wallet, because the cost of electricity is going up.

TXU Electric got approval for a ten-percent rate hike, just in time for the summer season.

Fort Worth resident Alice Roper faces a lot of challenges these days: cancer, a fixed income, and an electric bill she can't afford despite the fact she is so careful.

"This month it's jumped up to $64.33," Roper said.

Next month, it will be worse as TXU Electric customers will see bills go up. The utility has raised rates six times in the past three years.

"This isn't something we wanted to do," said TXU's Chris Schein. "The way natural gas prices were going, it was a losing proposition."

Natural gas is the fuel source for about half the state's electricity.

"We were losing money on the sales of electricity," Schein said.

Texas deregulated electricity in 2002, and 19 retail providers now give consumers a big choice. Bonnie Allen and her husband are among those who switched to a different provider.

"If we're going to get the same service for a lesser price, then that's who he's going to go with," Allen said.

But competitors admit that many fear switching because they remember a bad experience with phone deregulation.

The monthly bill for the average TXU electric customer will increase $11. And while competitors are less expensive, they too are expected to raise rates.

"It's like a gas station from one side of town to the next," Schein said. "If one raises the price, the next one is going to raise the price too."

Alice Roper uses fans instead of the air conditioner. Next month when the bill rolls in, she's says she'll sweat in more ways than one.