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Burnet rejects Atmos rate bump

Assistant to the City Manager Keith McBurnett presented a recommendation to the Burnet City Council on Jan. 27 to deny an Atmos Energy rate increase. Staff photo by Elizabeth De Los Santos

The Burnet City Council voted Monday, Jan. 27, to deny Atmos Energy’s request to raise residential gas rates by 14.05 percent, preventing an automatic approval of the increase.

The natural gas distributor filed for a $16.73 million base rate increase on Dec. 16, 2024. If approved, residential customers would pay more, while commercial, industrial, and transportation rates would remain unchanged. The company has not raised base rates since 2018 but has implemented interim rate increases without full regulatory review.

“This raises concerns about fairness across customer classes,” said Assistant to the City Manager Keith McBurnett during the meeting. “Why should residential customers bear the full burden of this rate increase?”

Burnet is part of the Atmos Texas Municipalities Coalition, a group of cities opposing the increase. The council’s resolution authorizes legal action, requires Atmos to reimburse the city’s legal costs, and ensures further review by the Texas Railroad Commission.

Marble Falls, another member of the Atmos Texas Municipalities Coalition, also rejected the rate increase at its Jan. 7 City Council meeting.

elizabeth@thepicayune.com