Praying for more affordable power

If the Rev. Jerry Frank said a prayer for every parishioner that’s asked his assistance to pay their utility bill, he might spend every day bargaining with heaven for help.

“It’s continuous,” said Frank, who heads the congregation at St. Joseph Church in West Brownsville. “You would expect that PUB would have rates that work for the people of the city Â…”

Brownsville residents are supplied with water, sewer and electricity service from the Brownsville Public Utilities Board (PUB).

Electric deregulation that would have opened up the utilities market for competition did not happen here as in surrounding communities that can elect to have services from up to a dozen providers.

PUB charges 9.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for their electricity service. It’s a competitive rate for the Rio Grande Valley, where some providers charge up to 15.5 cents, but still too much for many living below the poverty level.

The cost of utilities here — including the price of electric power, natural gas and telephone service — was at 111.2 percent the national average, according to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index for the second quarter in 2007.

The COLI measures differences between areas in the cost of consumer goods and services, scoring a city's affordability on a scale of 100

An index higher than 100 percent translates into higher-than-average prices, according to the records kept by the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce. Brownsville's rate of 86.4 percent means it has below-average costs and makes Brownsville one of the nation's most affordable cities.

Our city also fared best in the housing and miscellaneous goods and services categories, with 73.6 and 85 percent respectively. Costs were also below average in health care at 95 percent, transportation at 96.8 percent and grocery items at 88.3 percent.

Utilities were the exception to a below-average cost of living, according to the Q2 index, the most recent information available at press time.

Brownsville also has the lowest per capita income for a city our size, with more than 40 percent of residents living below the federal poverty level.

And the cost of local utilities was the No. 4 issue among residents who participated in a recent survey that asked them to rank their top matters of concern.

The survey, completed in February, was conducted by Brownsville 2020, a project sponsored by The Brownsville Herald and the UTB-TSC Center for Civic Engagement. The condition of streets and highways, traffic congestion and a lack of sufficient wages were the top three on the list.

PUB spokeswoman Lucy Hernandez said the utility is sensitive to customers’ concerns and has taken some steps to offer relief. The customer service charge was reduced by $3 and the fee for making late payments is down from 10 percent to 5 percent.

Earlier this year, PUB reduced water rates by 8 percent for customers who use up to 9,000 gallons of water, according to Herald archives. About half of all residential water users use between 3,001 and 9,000 gallons of water.

Customer service charges for water and wastewater total about $16.31 per month for residential service. PUB also charges for actual usage of water and wastewater and does the billing for garbage collection.

And while some try to compare AEP/CPL bills to PUB bill totals, Hernandez said what many forget is that CPL customers are only being billed for electricity.

“CPL is higher but people don’t believe that,” she said.

According to documents provided by PUB, its clients are charged 9.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. The rate has remained the same since 2005. By comparison, AEP/CPL charges 15.5 cents per kilowatt-hour and Magic Valley charges between 9.5 and 10 cents.

Hernandez said PUB does make some allowances for elderly clients who are spared late fees for up to 37 days.

It also makes payment arrangements for customers who need a little extra time to pay their bills. The utility receives an average of 6,000 calls per month for this service, Hernandez said.

Father Frank believes the need for assistance could be reduced if costs were more fairly established.

He’s calling for local developers to pay a larger share of impact fees, the cost for installing utilities and infrastructure, instead of passing it off to consumers.

Impact fees are what developers pay PUB for water and wastewater development.

“If you don’t do a fair impact fee than the rate payers end up paying,” Frank said.

Developers pay just $280 per lot, leaving a large portion of the actual cost of development to the homebuyer. This rate was established in 1990.

Since then, the city has commissioned several studies to divine what if any increase should be considered. Recommended increases range from $2,133 to $3,090.

Earlier this year, Frank asked City Commission candidates if they would support a $3,090 impact fee rate if elected. Responses were mixed.

During his campaign, Mayor Pat Ahumada said increasing impact fees was one of his top 3 issues.

“Given the opportunity as mayor, I will immediately introduce experts Black & Veatch’s plan on impact fees in compliance with State Statue 395 to adopt a responsible plan for new growth and that will keep utility rates down for the citizens of Brownsville,” Ahumada wrote in a statement to The Herald.

The Black & Veatch study of 2006 cost $220,000 to complete and recommended impact fees be raised to $3,090 per lot.

This September the PUB trustees, including Ahumada, approved another Black & Veatch study on impact fees that will cost another $134,000. “There is no way around it,” Ahumada said.

Commissioners Leo Garza, Anthony P. Troiani, Charlie Atkinson and Ricardo Longoria all campaigned on raising the impact fee to one degree or another.

The issue remains unresolved since the new commission was seated this summer. A review of City Commission agendas shows the impact fees and PUB rates have been addressed only a handful of times.

“I thought there was going to be a majority of the people on the City Commission favoring this (increase),” Frank said.

“I’m afraid that one of the stalwart supporters has completely turned around and changed his position. It looks like the effort to keep utility rates affordable Â… is in jeopardy right now.”

Ahumada says the City Commission has tried to work on raising the impact fees but blames “other groups” for stalling progress. He plans to renew discussions on the issue, soon.

“If we don’t adopt what is recommended that would allow us to recoup the cost that allowed us to do those capital improvements. Somebody’s going to have to pay for that and it’s going to be the citizens of Brownsville,” he said.

Meanwhile, community groups have tried to persuade the City Commission to increase the fee to the recommended $3,090. They believe raising the impact fee would relieve some of the burden of utility costs.

Local developers have opposed raising the rate, arguing the increase would still impact local homeowners and could hurt the city’s growth.

“We’ve got to lower utilities,” Frank said, “and the only way we can do it is hold these commissioners (accountable).”

Because PUB offers lower electric rates per kilowatt-hour, compared to other utility providers in the area, “should tell consumers that we are doing a good job,” said Ahumada, an ex-oficio member on the utility board.

PUB has taken steps to lower the utility rates by purchasing coal and gas-generatedenergy, which will translate to savings for the consumers, the mayor said.

PUB officials however did not choose to be part of the state's deregulation rules that provide residents with an option to choose their utility provider.

Only a few outlying pockets of the city are serviced by either CPL/AEP or Magic Valley Electric Co-op. A few miles north in Rancho Viejo, residents there can choose from about a dozen electricity providers to supply utility services to their homes.

If PUB officials believed deregulation would be beneficial to local customers, Ahumada said, they would have opted for that.