Electric bills to increase across Texas, per report from nonprofit, Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — As temperatures drop across Texas, electric bills are going up.

“Pretty upsetting. I would hope to see it go down because with our bill we just got, it was probably about 50 dollars more than the last month,” Sherly Hughes said.

It’s not only because more people stay in during the winter months. According to the nonprofit Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, more of your electric bill will go toward the transmission and distribution of the electric grid infrastructure.

Experts say about 40% of your bill already pays for that.

“When you’re driving around and walking down the street, and see those wires, that’s what needs to be upgraded to accommodate greater energy use as well as more severe weather so that they’ll be effective when we’re in extreme cold and extreme heat,” Margo Weisz, executive director for TEPRI, said.

The nonprofit did a study called the ERCOT affordability outlook and reported

Eighty percent of energy spending goes towards electricity.

Over the last five years, there’s been a 30% jump in prices, and the nonprofit reports that trend will continue until 2030.

ABC13 spoke to some people who agree that there needs to be improvements to help keep them safe during natural disasters.

“I think we need to invest in our infrastructure. I think we’ve kind of cheated on building infrastructure, and you see the results of that with the freeze and hurricanes,” Mike Zubel said.

Others feel the cost shouldn’t be passed on to people.

“It gives us less money, savings money, for retirement, medical. Also, gives us less money to spend in the community,” Bruce Rice said.

As 2025 comes to a close, some are already budgeting for the next year.

“We’ll usually cut back on going out. I would say, going out to eat, you know, buying stuff,” Hughes said.For updates, follow Mo Haider on Facebook, X and Instagram.