AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Energy (AE) said there would be another rate change beginning Nov. 1. The change would increase the average residential customer’s bill by about $1.50 a month.

This would be the fourth time the electric utility has increased its rate over the past year.

Starting on your October bill, AE added another increase that added up to under $2 a month, but in November 2022, monthly bills were increased by an average of $15, and then in March, Austin Energy’s base rate rose to $13 a month.

Austin Energy spokesperson Matt Mitchell said the newest rate increase covers the cost of buying energy on the ERCOT market.

“The pass-through charges appearing on the Austin Energy portion of the City of Austin Utilities bill are the Community Benefit Charge (CBC), Regulatory Charge, and Power Supply Adjustment (PSA). The CBC consists of components to recover costs of the Customer Assistance Program (CAP), Energy Efficiency Services (EES), and Service Area Lighting (SAL),” Mitchell said.

“These charges are reviewed annually and adjusted to recover costs and to correct any over-recovery or under-recovery. The net impact of the proposed changes to the pass-through rates will be a monthly increase of less than $1.50 for the typical residential bill (860 kWh) inside the city limits. Impacts to commercial customers will vary depending on consumption patterns,” Mitchell said.