Electric Rates May Be Going Up

Electric rates for Austin Energy customers may go up soon.
City leaders want to make sure the people that will have the hardest time paying the hike have options.
They told a crowd of low income families, schools, and churches at the ACC Riverside campus Saturday that electric rates have not changed in the last 17 years.
Currently, residents pay 75-percent of what it actually costs to get electricity.
If the hike is approved, some customers could see a 40 percent increase on their bill.
Churches would pay more because they would change from residential rates to commercial rates, a 33 percent increase.
But if the rates don't change by this summer, Austin Energy is projecting a 75 million dollar deficit.