Austin Energy bills could go up by $20

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Spending the afternoon cleaning her car means a lot of breaks inside for Clarisa Santos. Her home air conditioning has been working non-stop this summer.

“It's grossly working. Poor thing,” Santos said.

This time next year, it's going to cost her more to run that air conditioner.

“We've cut the budget as much as we can,” said Austin Energy’s general manager Larry Weis. “We're operating as efficiently as we can and we just need additional revenue.”

It will be Austin Energy customers providing that additional revenue.

Under a recommended rate increase plan released on Monday, the average customer -- who pays about $92 for electricity -- will see that bill jump to a little more $102 per month.

When you add additional fees Austin Energy says the average bill could increase anywhere between $10-$20 per month.

Taking a closer look at the recommended increase, those who use the least energy could see the biggest increases. The recommended rate plan has those who use 250 kilowatts paying about 70 percent more for the same energy.

“But that increase of 70 percent is still a very small dollar amount,” said Weis.

Weis said the cost to deliver electricity is the same for each residential customer, about $33 per month. Under the recommended plan Austin Energy will only charge a $25 fixed cost. The difference between $25 and $33 is why customers, who use less, will pay more percentage-wise to make up the difference.

The recommended rate increase is only one of three potential plans . The Austin City Council will have the final say on which plan goes into effect. They are expected to vote on the rate increase late this year.

Once approved, new rates will go into effect early 2012.