By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

Residents and businesses that use natural gas in West Lake Hills and Rollingwood will see a slight increase in their gas bill beginning in July. 

The city councils in West Lake Hills and Rollingwood raised the rates in both cities in accordance with a request from Texas Gas Service, a subsidiary of ONEOK Inc.  

Rollingwood approved the increase June 17, and West Lake Hills approved the rate June 24. 

The average residential customer in West Lake Hills will have an increase of $1.34. In Rollingwood, the increase for the average residential customer is $1.26. 

Larry Graham, manager of customer service for the Central Texas section of TGS, said the base rate for residential customers in the area is increasing by $2, but the volumetric rate is decreasing.

The previous residential rate for one unit, or 100 cubic feet of gas, was $0.1579. Now the rate is $0.0826 per unit of gas consumed by the customer. 

Base rates for commercial customers in the cities rose by $1, but the volumetric rates decreased to $0.1301 per unit, from the previous $0.1579. 

In his presentation to the West Lake Hills City Council, Graham said TGS prefers raising the fixed base rate for customers so revenue does not fluctuate with the seasons as customers’ use increases and decreases. 

TGS filed an application on Feb. 11 with the Railroad Commission of Texas to raise rates and increase its annual revenue by $3.5 million. 

Austin led the negotiations with TGS because it is the largest city in this Central Texas service area of TGS, said Robert Wood, city administrator for West Lake Hills. 

Austin hired a consultation firm and a law firm and reached an agreement with TGS to reduce the annual revenue increase for TGS to $1.05 million, instead of $3.5 million. 

Rollingwood and West Lake Hills customers will also begin paying into a fund that will allow them to participate in “Green Saver” programs with TGS, which encourage energy audits and conservation through rebates. 

During his presentation to the West Lake Hills City Council, Graham said this is the first rate increase by TGS in 16 years. 

If the cities decided not to approve the rate increase, TGS could have appealed to the Railroad Commission, but that would be expensive, and the customers in the cities would bear the cost, Graham said. 

West Lake Hills has about 500 residents who use gas, and Rollingwood has about 395. 

In Rollingwood, Alderman Bill Hamilton asked when the next rate increase would be.

“We don’t envision any dramatic changes,” Graham said.