‘Do better’: First-time homebuyer outraged by $138 utility base fees

NEW CANEY, Texas (KTRK) — Lisa Easter and her husband bought their first home in a new development in New Caney last October.

She said her “jaw hit the floor” when she got her first water bill from Texas Water Utilities, the private company that services her neighborhood.

“They’re ruining this dream for a lot of people over a water bill, and so we’re just saying, ‘do better,'” Easter said.

Easter moved to New Caney from Cypress, where she said she lived in a comparable-sized house, and her highest water bill there was about $75.

Now, her bills show she’s paying more than that in fees alone to Texas Water Utilities.

Bills from October 2024 show residents in Easter’s neighborhood paid based fees of $48.37 for water and $68.52 for sewage. That is $116 in base fees before those residents ever turn on a faucet or flush a toilet.

Between base fees, usage, and other costs passed on to consumers, residents we spoke with in Easter’s neighborhood are paying around $200 per month for water and sewage, according to bills shared with 13 Investigates.

“In my life, I’ve never even paid a water bill that high,” Easter said. “I’ve been able to use a lot of water in the past and still not had a bill that high.”

Easter and her neighbors told 13 Investigates they’ve changed their water-use habits, but they don’t feel it has made a noticeable difference.

Since moving into the New Caney neighborhood, residents said their base fees have increased. Texas Water Utilities must apply to the PUC, and the state agency must approve the cost increase. The increase this year was approved.

Now, some Texas Water Utilities customers are paying $59.39 in base water fees and $79.19 in base sewage fees, for a total of $138.58.

Texas Water Utilities has also applied to the state to add nearly $34 in “system improvement fees” to customers’ bills to recoup the $81.8 million it invested in system upgrades over the last two years, according to a letter sent to customers.

“We all moved in with a certain mindset of what we needed a budget for, and now it’s completely unknown to us how or what we need to budget. So how do you plan financially for that?” Easter said.

13 Investigates asked Texas Water Utilities about the fee increases.

The company confirmed its current increased rates were approved in September and that the request for a $34 system improvement fee is under review.

Texas Water Utilities said its rates are determined through the PUC’s regulatory process, which evaluates its costs to ensure they are “necessary and reasonable.”

13 Investigates learned Easter’s concerns expand beyond New Caney.

“I don’t understand any of this – how they want and need more money every year,” Jim Lassiter, of Pottsboro, told 13 Investigates.

Lassiter is one of more than 750 Texas Water Utilities customers who filed a ratepayer protest and a request to intervene with the PUC in response to one of the company’s recent rate increase requests.

We reached out to several customers who filed a protest with the PUC against Texas Water Utilities, including Mary Anne Aiken of Flint.

“I’m sure we’re not the only ones with this problem,” she told 13 Investigates.

Our investigation found that Texas Water Utilities customers in about 50 cities across the state filed a protest with the PUC.

“My husband and I are both about to turn 72, and we live on a limited income of social security,” customer Donna Elmer, of Magnolia, told 13 Investigates.

Some customers wrote in their protest that after Texas Water Utilities took over service for their already established neighborhood, their bills shot up.

“It just seems like this would be a bit exorbitant,” customer Charles Hoera, of Morgan, said after we reached out to him.

We also spoke with several customers in Trinidad, about 70 miles southeast of Dallas, who filed protests against the company’s rates.

“This is absolutely outrageous. Someone has got to step in and help us,” customer Susie Helm, of Trinidad, told us.

Linda Goff’s husband filed a protest asking how many rate increases the state would allow.

“This community is facing a water hike that is simply devastating to our families,” Goff told 13 Investigates.

With hundreds of people speaking out about the hardships the increasing base fee costs are putting on Texas families, we wanted to know if the PUC is taking their concerns into account.

We asked the PUC, and they told us input from ratepayers is “extremely important” and they encourage Texans to get involved in the process.

A spokesman also said there is no cap on the fees, meaning they can go as high as they like.

We also asked how often the PUC denies a request for a rate increase, but they said they don’t track that information.

“Every rate case is decided based on its unique circumstances, including public input, and may be approved, modified, or denied. We don’t maintain totals of how each case is resolved,” the PUC told 13 Investigates.

Joe Gimenez, founder of Fair Water Texas, an advocacy group for ratepayers, said the outrage over Texas Water Utilities’ prices isn’t unique.

“Just having the opportunity to turn on your faucet, there is a standing cost to that, and they call that the base rate,” Gimenez said.

He said utility companies constantly need to upgrade their infrastructure, and that comes with a cost. But, he said, the size of the company’s customer base is key.

Texas Water Utilities confirms it uses regionalized pricing, meaning fees paid by a customer in one part of the state may be used to fund improvements for customers elsewhere.

Easter and some of her neighbors said they didn’t know who the providers were for their New Caney neighborhood before they moved in.

Realtor Jennifer Yoingco, who primarily sells homes in Houston’s suburbs, said it’s important to ask for the “community information sheet” when looking for a home because it shows buyers which companies service the area.

She said once buyers have that information, they should call the utility companies to discuss their average costs.

“Typically people will not call until they are officially moved in to transfer their utilities,” Yoingco said. “They need to call the (Municipal Utilities District) and say, ‘hey for the typical average usage, how much will water cost in this neighborhood.'”

Texas Water Utilities said it understands that customers have concerns regarding affordability and that their rates are determined through the PUC.

The company said customers have multiple opportunities to participate in rate-setting proceedings.

They also told us they have assistance programs for customers experiencing financial difficulties. According to the link they sent us on their website, customers who are low income or over 65 years old can qualify for up to $40 off of their bill a month.

Easter doesn’t fall into either category.

“It feels like us against them, and it shouldn’t be,” Easter said. “I know that people like to cringe when they hear about governmental regulation, but it is important to have some regulation because it avoids instances like this.”

Gimenez said customers should get involved. One way to speak up for or against the fee increases is to file a ratepayer protest, but only 1 in 10 customers must protest to begin the rate appeal process. For Texas Water Utilities, that would be about 6,100 people.

He said customers can take it a step further and become an “intervenor,” which means they become an active part of the hearings. The PUC said several people were granted intervenor status in the Texas Water Utilities case.

“The days of mild cost increases are probably over for consumers, and that’s distressing,” Gimenez said.

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