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Home My WebLink About28529-05-2026 - City Council - Ordinance1 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH SUSPENDING THE JUNE 8, 2026 ’EFFECTIVE DATE OF SIENERGY GAS, LLC S REQUESTED INCREASE TO PERMIT THE CITY TIME TO STUDY THE REQUEST AND TO ESTABLISH REASONABLE RATES; APPROVING COOPERATION WITH OTHER CITIES IN THE SIENERGY SERVICE AREA; HIRING LEGAL AND CONSULTING SERVICES TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE COMPANY AND DIRECT ANY NECESSARY LITIGATION AND APPEALS; AUTHORIZING INTERVENTION IN ’SIENERGY S STATEMENT OF INTENT TO CHANGE GAS UTILITY RATES WITHIN THE INCORPORATED AREAS SERVED BY SIENERGY AND NOTICE OF CONSOLIDATION AT THE RAILROAD COMMISSION; REQUIRING REIMBURSEMENT OF ’CITIES RATE CASE EXPENSES; FINDING THAT THE MEETING AT WHICH THIS ORDINANCE IS PASSED IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS REQUIRED BY LAW; REQUIRING NOTICE OF THIS ORDINANCE TO THE COMPANY AND LEGAL COUNSEL WHEREAS, on or about May 4, 2026, SiEnergy Gas, LLC (“SiEnergy” or “Company”), pursuant to Gas Utility Regulatory Act § 104.102, filed with the City of Fort Worth (“City”) a Statement of Intent to change gas rates within the incorporated areas served by SiEnergy and a notice of its intent to consolidate its operations and assets with the other members of SiEnergy Holding LLC, effective June 8, 2026; and WHEREAS, the City is a regulatory authority with exclusive original jurisdiction over the rates and charges of SiEnergy that it imposes upon it gas customers located within the City; and WHEREAS, it is reasonable for the City of Fort Worth to cooperate with other similarly situated cities in conducting a review of the Company’s application and to hire and direct legal counsel and consultants and to prepare a common response and to negotiate with the Company and direct any necessary litigation; and WHEREAS, the Gas Utility Regulatory Act § 104.107 grants local regulatory authorities the right to suspend the effective date of proposed rate changes for ninety (90) days; and WHEREAS, SiEnergy has filed an application with the Railroad Commission, that could become the docket into which appeals of city action on the SiEnergy filing are consolidated; and WHEREAS, the Gas Utility Regulatory Act § 103.022 provides that costs incurred by cities in ratemaking activities are to be reimbursed by the regulated utility. THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH: SECTION 1.That the June 8, 2026, effective date of the rate request submitted by SiEnergy on or about May 4, 2026, be suspended for the maximum period allowed by law to permit adequate time to review the proposed changes and to establish reasonable rates. 2 SECTION 2.That the City is authorized to cooperate with other cities in the SiEnergy service area to hire and direct legal counsel and consultants, negotiate with the Company, make recommendations to the City regarding reasonable rates and to direct any necessary administrative proceedings or court litigation associated with an appeal of a rate ordinance and the rate case filed with the City or Railroad Commission. SECTION 3.That, subject to the right to terminate employment at any time, the City of Fort Worth authorizes the hiring of the law firm of Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C. and consultants to represent the City in all matters associated with the SiEnergy application to increase rates and appeals thereof. SECTION 4.That intervention at the Railroad Commission in the docket that the application is filed under is authorized. SECTION 5.That the City’s reasonable rate case expenses shall be reimbursed by the Company. SECTION 6.That it is officially found and determined that the meeting at which this Ordinance is passed is open to the public as required by law and the public notice of the time, place, and purpose of said meeting was given as required. SECTION 7.A copy of this Ordinance shall be sent to SiEnergy representatives June M. Dively and Daniel Croll, SiEnergy Gas, LLC, 13215 Bee Cave Pkwy., Suite B-250, Bee Cave, Texas 78738 (junedively@sienery.com and dancroll@sienergy.com), and to Jamie Mauldin at Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C., 816 Congress Avenue, Suite 1900, Austin, Texas 78701 (jmauldin@lglawfirm.com). ADOPTED this 2nd day of June, 2026 City of Fort Worth, Texas Mayor and Council Communication DATE: 06/02/26 M&C FILE NUMBER: M&C 26-0407 LOG NAME: 21SIENERGY RATE SUSPENSION SUBJECT (CD 4, CD 6, CD 7, CD 10, and CD 11) Adopt an Ordinance Suspending Rate Increases Proposed by SiEnergy Gas, LLC, and Retention of Legal Counsel and Consultants to Evaluate the Proposed Rates RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council: 1. Adopt the attached ordinance which suspends the implementation of the rate increases filed by SiEnergy Gas, LLC, with the Texas Railroad Commission on May 4, 2026; and 2. Authorizes the City Manager or his designee to cooperate with other cities served by SiEnergy Gas, LLC, to hire direct legal counsel (Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C.) and to evaluate the proposed rates. DISCUSSION: The purpose of this Mayor and Council Communication (M&C) is for council approval to suspend the implementation of the proposed rate increases filed by SiEnergy Gas, LLC (SiEnergy or Company). On May 4, 2026, SiEnergy, pursuant to Subchapter C of Chapter 104 of the Gas Utility Regulatory Act, filed its Statement of Intent to change gas rates at the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) and in all municipalities exercising original jurisdiction within its service area. The proposed effective date for the new rates is June 8, 2026. SiEnergy is seeking to increase its revenues by approximately $4.0 million, which is an increase of 16.1 % including gas costs, or 24.0% excluding gas costs. SiEnergy is also seeking to consolidate all service areas into a single statewide jurisdiction. The Company's proposed rates for all of its customers are based on the systemwide cost of providing service to customers throughout the entirety of Texas. SiEnergy is also requesting: (1) approval of new depreciation rates for use following the consolidation; (2) approval to adopt revised Weather Factors by Area for the Weather Normalization Adjustment tariff; (3) the establishment of baseline factors for future Interim Rate Adjustment filings made pursuant to Gas Utility Regulatory Act § 104.301; (4) approval to continue the recovery of Winter Storm Uri regulatory asset expense with a revised factor per Ccf for the Rate SUR tariff; (5) a finding that the investment made in SiEnergy's natural gas distribution system between April 1, 2023 and December 31, 2025, is used and useful, prudent, reasonable, and necessarily incurred; and (6) approval of a rate case expense recovery tariff to recover the reasonable rate case expenses associated with its filing through a surcharge on rates. Under state law, the City has original jurisdiction over the rates, operations, and services of any gas utility operating in the City. The City's Charter grants the City Council the power by ordinance to fix and regulate the rates of all public utilities in the City. If the City fails to take action regarding the filing before the effective date, SiEnergy's rate request is deemed approved. To have sufficient time to analyze the rate filing, the City is allowed to suspend the proposed rate change for up to 90 days after the date the rate change would otherwise be effective. During the suspension period, the gas utility's current rates will continue in effect. The attached ordinance suspends the June 8, 2026 effective date of SiEnergy's rate increase for the maximum period permitted by law and allows the City to cooperate with other cities served by SiEnergy to hire and direct legal counsel (Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C.) and consultants, negotiate with SiEnergy, make recommendations to the City regarding reasonable rates and to direct any necessary administrative proceedings or court litigation associated with an appeal of a rate ordinance and the rate case filed with the City or Railroad Commission. Because this is a rate -making proceeding, SiEnergy will reimburse the cities for legal and consulting costs. SiEnergy serves citizens in Council Districts 4, 6, 7, 10, and 11. A Form 1295 is not required because: This M&C does not request approval of a contract with a business entity. FISCAL INFORMATION / CERTIFICATION: The Director of Finance certifies that approval of these recommendations will have no material effect on City funds. Submitted for Citv Manaaer's Office by Valerie Washington 6199 Oriainatina Business Unit Head: Marilyn Marvin 7708 Additional Information Contact: Juanita Rigsby 8518