FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11/1/2011

Pflugerville City Council Votes against rate increase for Windermere Utility Customers

The City of Pflugerville held two public hearings regarding the Windermere rate increase and sale transfer merger.  After the public hearing on November 1, the city has a total of 118 protest letters and 567 requests to intervene. The city estimates more than 5000 homes are affected.

City Council voted to deny Monarch?s proposed rate increase for Windermere Utility Customers. The City Council also passed a resolution to authorize legal counsel to resist the acquisition of Windermere Utility Company by Monarch Utilities and encouraged all customers to attend the TCEQ meeting on November 8.

The resolution emphasized that the notice sent to customers of Windermere by Monarch stated that the transfer of Windermere, along with the other utilities, to Monarch would have no effect on current water and sewer rates and that claim is false. The acquisition of Windermere by Monarch would diminish the ability of the City to mitigate or provide solutions to the high rates and poor service currently being experienced by Windermere customers.

The acquisition of Windermere, and the other utilities, by Monarch would result in customers located in Pflugerville and its environs subsidizing several other utilities who are in various stages of disrepair, and it would cause very large increases in rates for customers of Windermere to pay for work in other areas. The Resolution emphasizes that the City does not find this transfer of Windermere to be in the public interest as it can be detrimental to the city?s governmental interests relating to health, safety and welfare concerns, economic development and neighborhood vitality, and adequate flow for fire suppression.

The TCEQ will host a public hearing on November 8 at 10 a.m. at the William P. Clements Building, 4^th floor located at 300 W. 15th Street to discuss allowing Monarch Utility to merge utilities from 32 counties into one single service area. City representatives will be at the TCEQ meeting and residents are encouraged to attend. Now that the city has rejected the rate increase, Monarch has appealed to the TCEQ who will have the final decision on the issue.

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