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