Texas City Says It Is Paying Too Much For Energy -- October 21, 2019

Data, October 23, 2019:

Screenshots taken on October 23, 2019, approximately 10:15 a.m. CT with same google search except for geographic location:

Original Post

As you read this story: remember --

Most Texas residents have the ability to choose their electricity provider in a competitive statewide market, leading to electricity prices that are among the lowest in the nation: 18 percent below the national average in 2018, and 48 percent below prices in green energy pacesetter California.

Update: the saga continues -- into the courts -- headline: Texas city famed for 100% renewables has too much power, wants out of solar contract. Link here.

[Georgetown muni] claims that with the excess power, coupled with low wholesale power prices, it was forced to raise monthly electricity rates earlier this year by $12.82 for its roughly 25,000 ratepayers.

The Georgetown muni says its average residential customer uses 949kWh a month, and pays an average monthly bill of $132.32. It notes that a customer of TXU Energy in the nearby town of Round Rock pays $118.63, while an Austin Energy customer is paying $96.22.

Comments:

• $132.32 - $12.82 = $119.50 which was still on the high side; what is the rest of the story vis-à-vis Round Rock and Austin (neighboring cities)
• 12.82 / 119.50 = an 11% jump month-over-month seems to be excessive; wasn't Georgetown muni watching their bottom numbers?
• a contract is a contract
• had there been no shale revolution, and had the price of natural gas "surged," the Georgetown city fathers would have looked like geniuses; they can't have it both ways;
• when does the contract end?
• how much will the lawsuits cost the city vs just letting the contracts run out?
• earlier this year (see article below):
• From Georgetown, TX: from their own website, the residents pay 11.10 cents/kWh, an incredible, whopping 1% more than the average rate paid by the rest of Texas, 10.98 cents/kWh. (I have not checked to see if the website has been updated/changed.)

Some back-of-the-envelope calculations:

• average income: 
• US average: $28,555
• Austin, TX: $32,672 
• Round Rock, TX: $30,605
• Georgetown, TX: $31,605
• median income:
• US median income: $60,336 (link here)
• Texas median income: $59,206
• Austin, TX: $55,216
• Round Rock, TX: $70,952
• Georgetown, TX: $62,219
• as a percentage of average income: percent annual utility costs (from linked article) income:
• Austin, TX: $1,155 / $32,672 = 3.5351%
• Round Rock, TX: $1,424 / $30,605 = 4.6528%
• Georgetown, TX: $1,588 / $31,605 = 5.0245%
• as a percent of median income: 
• US median income: $60,336
• Texas median income:  $59,206
• Austin, TX: $1,155 / $55,216 =  2.0918%
• Round Rock, TX: $1,424 / $70,952 = 2.007%
• Georgetown, TX: $1,588 / $62,219 = 2.5523%

Based on official Texas state websites, it appears when comparing apples to apples, the states uses median income, not average income.

So, the folk in Georgetown, TX, whose median income is almost twice that of the US average, and slightly higher than the state of TX, are paying 0.55% more based on median income. Based on average income, the Georgetown, TX, folks are paying less than half-a-percent more than their sister city of Round Rock.

At just 2%, based on median income, it looks like Round Rock, TX, is doing an incredibly good job for their residents. 

Note: one can find many different numbers for average income and median income based on source and year.

Disclaimer: I often make simple arithmetic errors, and I may be starting with the wrong income figures. If this important to you, go to the source and do your own math.

Flashback: previously posted --

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Fighting The Unicorn Is Expensive

From https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/texas-towns-environmental-narcissism-makes-al-gore-happy-while-sticking-its-citizens-with-the-bill

Political leaders in a college town in central Texas won wide praise from former Vice President Al Gore and the larger Green Movement when they decided to go “100 percent renewable” seven years ago. Now, however, they are on the defensive over electricity costs that have their residents paying more than $1,000 per household in higher electricity charges over the last four years.

That’s right - $1,219 per household in higher electricity costs for the 71,000 residents of Georgetown, Texas, all thanks to the decision of its Republican mayor, Dale Ross, to launch a bold plan to shift the city’s municipal utility to 100 percent renewable power in 2012.

Look at these numbers:

But while Ross was being lauded far and wide, the residents of his town were paying a steep price.

His decision to bet on renewables resulted in the city budget getting dinged by a total of $29.8 million in the four years from 2015 to 2018. [$30 million / 71,000 / 4 years =  $104/resident/year. Am I missing something? This works out to 30 cents/day. I often make simple arithmetic errors, but that's what I got.]

Georgetown’s electric costs were $3.5 million over budget in 2015, ballooning to $6.3 million in 2016, the same year the mayor locked his municipal utility into 20- and 25-year wind and solar energy contracts to make good on his 100 percent renewable pledge.

By 2017, the mayor’s green gamble was undercut by the cheap natural gas prices brought about by the revolution in high-tech fracking. Power that year cost the city’s budget $9.5 million more than expected, rising to $10.5 million last year, according to budget documents reported by The Williamson County Sun. [$10 million / 71,000 = $140 for the year or 40 cents/day. Again, maybe I'm missing something. This is less than a senior pays for coffee at McDonald's.]

And then this:

Most Texas residents have the ability to choose their electricity provider in a competitive statewide market, leading to electricity prices that are among the lowest in the nation: 18 percent below the national average in 2018, and 48 percent below prices in green energy pacesetter California.

Okay, so let's fact check. From Georgetown, TX: from their own website, the residents pay 11.10 cents/kWh, an incredible, whopping 1% more than the average rate paid by the rest of Texas, 10.98 cents/kWh.

This is exactly how FoxNews loses credibility. Or again, maybe I'm missing something. I quit watching Fox News a long time ago, but I do check in on their website daily.

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Electricity Costs

North Texas (Dallas-Ft Worth Area)

1,100 Square Foot Apartment

No natural gas; all electricity

kWH from October, 2018, last year to September, 2019, this year:

2018 - 2019	kWh for the month
October 2018	514
November	1044
December	954
January 2019	1295
February	1232
March	653
April	441
May	361
June	263
July	559
August	733
September	467
Average for the year	710

Screenshot of electricity costs in September, 2019: