TXU drops electric rate 5% this week
Following $45 billion merger, TXU drops plans for 8 coal plants, promises to continue helping needy with Access fund
BY TERRIE GONZALEZ MANAGING EDITOR

When the next TXU electric bill lands in the mailbox, it may feel about five percent lighter.

The company promised to lower electric rates across the board with the conclusion of a merger estimated at $45 billion, which was approved earlier this month by shareholders of Texas Energy Future Holdings Limited Partnership and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR).

Customers of the former TXUSESCO will receive a five percent reduction in electric bills. The five percent rate reduction follows a 10 percent cut in May, which was preceded by a 62 percent rate hike in January 2006.

TXU is guaranteeing the price structure through December 2008.

"Depending on the billing cycle, this rate reduction will be in effect by the end of this week," Sophia Stoller, TXU Energy Future Holdings spokeswoman, told the Cherokeean Herald.

"Customers will not see a difference in their bill - there is no change in our name," she said. "This should be seamless to our customers."

As a concession to environmental concerns, the board also agreed to drop plans to construct eight of 11 proposed new coal-powered generating plants.

Cherokee County gets $65,000 from

Texas Energy Access fund

TXU announced plans to continue offering Texas Energy Access, a relief fund earmarked for low-income persons with emergency needs. Systemwide approximately $5 million annually is funneled through 400 relief agencies served by TXU.

In Cherokee County, $65,000 in TXU Energy Access funds has been distributed to needy families in 2007 through GETCAP. Another disbursement is anticipated in December.

Ms. Stoller said TXU will also offer new tools and programs for customers to help manage and monitor their power consumption, funded by a $100 million project.

The Dallas Morning News reported last summer that the TXU merger could lead to the first national electricity company Americans have ever seen. DMN expressed concerns that the United States does not have a regulatory framework to protect consumers' interests with a national utility company.

The newspaper commissioned a report by an energy strategist who expressed concerns that the leveraged buyout was taking on $24.6 billion of debt. That load could push up energy rates and leave customers vulnerable, the report suggested.