1978-09-20 Public Hearing - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM • August 10, 1978 T0: Mayor and Council FROM: J. R. Hudgens SUBJECT: Houston Light and Power Rate Increase On Friday, August 4, I attended a meeting in the Bellaire - Council Chambers reference the above. In attendance were repre- sentatives from many communities (approximately 20) served by Houston Light and Power, including Houston and Baytown. The pur- pose of the meeting was to determine whether or not smaller com- ,~ munities would band together, employ Council, and become an intervenor in the Houston Light and Power rate case before the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in Austin. It was the concensus of those representatives attending from the various smaller com- e munities that this would be beneficial to the efforts of Baytown and Houston, as well as make known to the Public Utilities Com- mission that the smaller cities were not going to abdicate their rate-making authority to the PUC. All of the intervenors in Austin will be categorized between municipalities, industry, etc., and the smaller communities would be placed in the same category • as Houston and Baytown, who have filed motion to be separate in- tervenors. A steering committee, comprised of Mayor Ware of Bellaire, - Mayor Holmes of Shoreacres, and Jim Brown, City Administrator of West University Place, was selected from the cities represented. Also, the cities represented voted to employ Don Butler, of the Texas Municipal League, to represent the consortiums' interest be- fore the PUC. The employment of Don Butler to represent the cities was predicated on the respective interested communities pledging five (5) cents per capita, based on their 1970 population, to cover legal fees. This represents a cost to the City of La Porte of some $350.00 to $375.00. I have, with the advice and consent of part of the Council, committed the City of La Porte to support the combined efforts of the smaller communities before the PUC. I am requesting that Council ratify this commitment and authorize the expenditure of the required dollars based on our 1970 population, so that we may join with the other communities in making ,our concerns known to the Public Utilities Commission. J. R. Hudgens City Administrator • JRH/cb