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City council unanimously voted Tuesday, July 15, to suspend a proposed 13% electric rate increase from Oncor Electric Delivery Company, giving the city 90 days to evaluate the utility's request that would cost the average residential customer an additional $7.90 per month.
"Tell them ‘no,’ " said Mayor Terry Lynne to Public Works Director John Roach after taking the vote on Resolution 2025-119. "Fight for us."
Oncor filed the rate increase application June 26, seeking approximately $834 million in additional revenue system-wide. The proposal includes a 12.3% increase for residential customers and a substantial 51% hike in street lighting rates.
Roach explained the city's options to councilmembers and residents in attendance.
"Typically what happens is we suspend it first to give the steering committee attorneys and consultants time to review the rate increase," Roach said. "Once they review, they'll recommend either a settlement at that time, a negotiated settlement or perhaps a denial, which is what happened in 2022."
Farmers Branch is part of a 170-city coalition known as the Steering Committee of Cities Served by Oncor, which will coordinate a response to the utility's request. If cities take no action by July 31, the rate increase becomes automatically approved under state law.
Roach said the coalition has "a pretty good history of getting a reduction of the original request," citing a 2022 case that resulted in "considerable reduction" from Oncor's initial proposal.
In other business, council approved a pedestrian crossing project at Valley View Lane and Mercer Parkway, designed to provide safe passage across six lanes of traffic to the John Burke Nature Preserve.
Maria Mintor, managing superintendent of public works, said the project requires amending an existing agreement with the North Texas Tollway Authority.
"We have to amend that MUA to give us access to part of the NTTA property at that crosswalk," Mintor explained. "They don't grant easements, so we're just trying to get the MUA approved."
The crossing will complete a trail connection and include ADA-compliant features. Traffic signals are already installed at the location.
Council also heard a presentation on streamlining special events permitting, consolidating applications that currently require visits to multiple city departments.
Danielle Summers, community services director, proposed a three-tier permit system with a $50 base fee, designed to "centralize the process for our customers" and provide "better collaboration across departments."
The new system would distinguish between events with more than 1,000 attendees, fewer than 1,000 attendees and those requiring temporary structures.
"There's a lot involved, and it can be a little bit complicated and confusing," Summers said. "We are hoping to centralize the process to help them make it quicker and more understandable."
In a separate discussion about movie production permits, Mayor Terry Lynne expressed enthusiasm about attracting film industry business to the city. "We’ve got one [a movie] coming right around the corner,” he said, noting another production is planned for the end of the year.
Council also approved the sale of 13309 Josey Lane to Tom Cusick, concluding lengthy deliberations regarding the city property that spanned nine previous meetings.
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