Aqua Texas customers face large rate bump; deadline to protest extended
Water and sewer provider Aqua Texas is applying with the state to implement large rate increases for customers across the board, including for a few communities in the Highland Lakes. The Public Utility Commission of Texas is accepting protest letters from Aqua Texas customers before a determination is made on the application.
Aqua Texas filed an application with the PUC on June 20, requesting permission to implement rate increases to reflect an estimated $700 million in capital infrastructure projects made between 2004 and 2024. If the changes were to be implemented, customers could see steep increases to their water and sewer rates.
The proposed changes vary by customer and location, but they are dramatically higher in most cases. For example, in the city of Houston, the current rate for 1,000 gallons of water is $1.90; with the rate change, it would jump up to $5.49 for a residence, a 188 percent increase.
Aqua Texas serves several communities in the Highland Lakes area, including Tropical Hideaway Condominiums in Granite Shoals, a cluster of homes near Scobee in unincorporated Burnet County, portions of Horseshoe Bay, parts of Barton Creek Lakeside on the Burnet-Travis county line, and the Rio Ancho Ranch subdivision in Burnet County.
Aqua Texas came under fire in Granite Shoals in 2023 amid chronic issues with its wastewater treatment plant at Tropical Hideaway. The plant was cited for 11 violations with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and spilled 2,000 gallons of sewage due to a pump malfunction.
If you’re unsure whether or not you are an Aqua Texas customer who could be impacted, visit the provider’s website and enter your address to check. Aqua Texas has 377 water systems and 66 sewer systems across 56 counties in the state.
To file a protest or, as an intervener, to request a public hearing with the Public Utility Commission of Texas on the Aqua Texas rate increase, visit the PUC website here and use control number 58124 to file.
As of Monday, Sept. 8, there have been 3,771 filings regarding Aqua Texas’ rate increase application.
As of now, the rate increase is in limbo, and customers could have days, weeks, or months to file their protests, depending on how the PUC rules on the matter.
dakota@thepicayune.com