HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas (KXXV) — Harker Heights city council denied an Oncor rate increase, providing relief to residents like Arthur Franklin, a father of eight who pays around $500 monthly for electricity, and Oliver Yeboah, who has watched rates gradually climb since the mid-2000s.
- High Electric Bills Strain Families: Arthur Franklin, a father of eight, pays approximately $500 per month for electricity and says costs keep rising, while he tries to balance conserving energy with surviving Texas heat.
- City Blocks Rate Increase: Harker Heights city council denied Oncor's request for a rate increase at a recent meeting, giving residents hope for financial relief from climbing utility costs.
- Oncor Plans Continued Negotiations: The utility company says rate reviews are routine and will continue working with the city over the next six to nine months, while longtime resident Oliver Yeboah expresses frustration with rates that have been "gradually going up" since the mid-2000s.
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Life is getting financially tough for Arthur Franklin, a father of eight who pays around $500 a month on average for his electric bill in Harker Heights.
"We're sustaining. We're not middle, low or high class but we're able to sustain and maintain and take care of it," Franklin said.
Franklin said his electric costs seem to keep climbing each month, but he now has a little more room to breathe following the city of Harker Heights' decision to deny an Oncor rate increase at a recent council meeting.
"It's for me if they rejected because it ain't going up anymore so hopefully they can bring it down a little bit," Franklin said.
Oncor tells 25 News' Marc Monroy that rate reviews are routine and the company will continue to work with the city in the next six to nine months.
Local resident Oliver Yeboah is also growing frustrated with current rates and said the potential increase would be particularly difficult.
"That's going to hurt me especially when I got a lot of children to take care of," Yeboah said.
Yeboah has lived in the area since the mid-2000s and has watched rates gradually climb over the years.
"I've been here since the mid 2000's and it's been gradually going up for me and I think it's getting out of hand," Yeboah said.
Franklin is now looking to the future and hoping everything works out financially as he tries to balance his family's needs with rising costs.
"I got eight kids and with lights so I'm trying to conserve that and also trying to survive the Texas heat so I have my ac on blast," Franklin said.
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