TEMPLE, Texas — During the Winter, it's no secret that many people are kicking on their heaters and using more energy than usual to stay warm.
However, even people who are keeping their energy use to a moderate level are reportedly seeing a large spike in their energy bills.
"Our bills just go up and up," Temple homeowner Katriel Donaghue said. "We had our grandmother here, she was on hospice. She had a lot of machines. Even with all of her stuff, we were paying maybe $350, but in this one year, it's gone from like $350 to some of our bills like being $675."
For people like Donaghue, the price hike doesn't add up.
"When I got the $670 bill, it was like 'What is this?'" Donaghue explained. "This has to be wrong."
6 News reached out to Oncor, the largest energy delivery company in Texas, to understand the price increase.
Oncor says it bills customers' retail electric providers (REP) for transmission and distribution delivery rates. The REP then takes it, bundles it into their price and charges customers with it. The prices can vary based on the terms of the contract.
According to Oncor, there are basically two components of charges: a fixed monthly charge at $4.23 per month and a kilowatt hour (kWh) charge at about 5 cents per kWh.
These two charges are what go into a customer’s power consumption for the month.
Oncor says the kWh charge has been impacted by recent rate adjustments, which typically see an increase in September and a decrease in March.
These changes take into account the Transmission Cost Recovery Factor. Oncor says this recovers a portion of its transmission costs and some of the costs of all other transmission utilities across Texas.
Another thing taken into account is the Distribution Cost Recovery Factor, which goes to building new distribution facilities such as lines, poles and substations, according to Oncor.
This is where the rise can be found as Oncor increased this charge by 30% in September 2023 in order to account for over $1.1 billion in new distribution facilities.
Oncor says despite rising energy bills, it remains focused on making necessary investments in an appropriate, cost-effective manner.
Legislation in 2023 allowed for two periodic rate changes per year in Texas. Oncor says all of its rates are approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas before final implementation.
Meanwhile, Donaghue says she is ready for some form of regularity, still harboring frustration with the system dating back to the historic freeze of 2021.
"We didn't have electricity for six days," Donaghue said. "We still got that bill and it was more expensive than the previous year. It's just still like nothing helps."
To learn more information about Oncor, visit here.
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