[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6483150,"mediaKeyId","5671829-2f5a877e231f357d598afeda15de757e","parentId",5671829,"title","Denton staff outlines utility-billing policy changes for deposits, payment plans and leak adjustments","audioSeconds",334,"startMs",461000,"endMs",795000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5671829-2f5a877e231f357d598afeda15de757e&start=461&end=795","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5671829-2f5a877e231f357d598afeda15de757e/thumbnail_461000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6483150/Denton-City/Denton-County/Texas/Denton-staff-outlines-utility-billing-policy-changes-for-deposits-payment-plans-and-leak-adjustments","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6483150-cb2254aa62fedd3673b5f614a00b6ca3/orig.mp4?Expires=1771192038&Signature=L1MRZTkGMikPZ~raSISbBk0B6BDx9e7wMl73DnC7Tj4RbhVzLdOeweyzQpxXQko8AMj33yzrAr2q2vdvmzOQZUxaT8JBDioE0D5uX5dA88pAWKRtcEy2nUTwfeTgfQt7iAwTdJw8VYpCsTn4PAoz~7k~dUsN095s~2ag8b0dRTYdlCJcrgTA7k53AaNlyoiMbb6yeNRuAlI-pcwHeVlVHRArxvGqIUAMRbxjobvFXlpmgYqoEX-T11mtW7OJYLSz7AcHP-AVW1f7K2fnnhVDME79dQTAYy1SWAHesjmI0nXSm6InBN58S9NyzO77XkbITvwJtvv3iCJALJIIdzdCTg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Denton","date","2025-08-25T00:00:00Z","article","Krista Foster, Denton’s customer service manager, presented a utility-billing review during the Aug. 25 Public Utilities Board work session and recommended changes to commercial deposit rules, payment-arrangement procedures and leak-adjustment provisions.

Foster said an independent consultant reviewed staff interviews, call evaluations, performance trends and policy language and found that Denton’s collections generally outperform benchmark utilities but that certain ordinance provisions create unnecessary manual work and restrict staff flexibility. \"Our calculation is consistent. Our application of supplying deposit interest is consistent, that our retention period is not aligned with the majority of the cities, and that our current ordinance is written in such a way that it requires us to manually screen every account before we can do a refund of a deposit,\" Foster said.

Key recommendations presented to the board included:

- Residential deposits: retain for 12 months (no change from current practice).

- Commercial deposits: refund eligibility after 24 months of good payment history (presentation noted that 72% of new commercial businesses in Denton close within two years, which staff said informed the change). Eligibility qualifications would include an internal \"A\" credit rating with the utility (an internal metric based on late payments, disconnections and other payment anomalies), no disconnections, no meter tampering and a current account.

- Payment arrangements: move the due date to the customer’s current bill date (to avoid manual date calculations); remove hard limits on the number of arrangements so long as customers fulfill them; and apply a 12-month restriction on setting new arrangements after failing two agreements in a 12-month period. Foster also recommended authorizing program-level changes to the city manager with discretion to the customer-service department head for exceptions, while retaining council notification via routine reporting.

- Leak adjustments: revise ordinance language that hard-codes the process. Foster recommended increasing the submission deadline to 60 days, updating language to include renters (who previously were excluded because they could not pull permits), and aligning provisions for AMI metering. She proposed no residential cap on loss for leak adjustments, a commercial cap at 100,000 gallons, and a separate sprinkler/pool provision capped at 5,000 gallons with a reduced rate compared with a standard leak adjustment.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the internal credit-rating metric and the lines of program authority; Foster said the credit rating is an internal, automatically calculated 12-month rolling score and confirmed staff can explain the components to customers. Board members responded that delegating program authority to staff rather than requiring Council action for routine changes appeared reasonable given market and community shifts; Foster said the recommendation includes transparency to Council through reporting.

The presentation was informational; no formal action was requested or taken at the meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Denton - Public Utilities Board on 2025-08-25 9:00 AM","oneSentenceSummary","Customer Service Manager Krista Foster presented an independent review and recommended ordinance and administrative changes to deposit retention, commercial deposit refund timing, payment-arrangement processes and leak-adjustment rules to improve responsiveness and reduce manual workarounds.","taxTitle","Denton City, Denton County, Texas","taxId",2787,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6483154,"Denton board adopts ordinance to raise large-load electric cost adjustment effective Oct. 15",123,1110000,1233000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5671829-2f5a877e231f357d598afeda15de757e&start=1110&end=1233","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5671829-2f5a877e231f357d598afeda15de757e/thumbnail_1110000.jpg","/articles/6483154/Denton-City/Denton-County/Texas/Denton-board-adopts-ordinance-to-raise-large-load-electric-cost-adjustment-effective-Oct-15","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6483154-67b27a4e6b54d6beeb812248986a731a/orig.mp4?Expires=1771192038&Signature=HAG1vbYffALjPcgZNGg1j0zHC28MOgVJdIj2GF5lDSwg0DTB1vOiduNAoFqrM9IGf0qUe6q-u90KFPSoHpxk7UiKm9h8SpPzxLa-3P7f57DHZKose87PYFku2dkQ2T5dnBUJzIPNxuzJ9XRkxKydGQXWbmBwQjiwSBwzMkP8xOUupBTRZZ7wFXtKT2WaRYYpPnNC1~eK72PgjVRZXFvAAYs9-WhN0e1hJ0Rr1SZsx-6c-oFf-W7KBNN2RPGie17YzPNHsy1naK-t-cdZ8Gde0f1HmDw861rA3VbeVJ289S1LkozjdVuZV3mmxrgs10dujd1T7ErNUkIJK81gf8LByg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Denton Public Utilities Board on Aug. 25 adopted an ordinance to revise the electric cost adjustment (ECA) rate for large-load customers, with the change set to take effect Oct. 15.

Utility staff told the board the city’s native-load ECA and transmission cost recovery factor (TCRF) were not being changed, and presented forecasted account balances under current rates. Staff said that if the native-load ECA were held at the then-current rate (stated in the presentation as 0.0462¢), the account balance would be about $19.6 million by June 2026, inside the board’s established buffer. The TCRF forecast showed a projected balance of $623,000 by June 2026 if the existing rate of 0.0176 were maintained.

Staff recommended increasing the large-load ECA, and the board voted to adopt the ordinance to make that increase effective Oct. 15. The motion to adopt was made by Mr. Neuquist and seconded by Mr. Ryback; the vote carried unanimously.

The presentation included staff forecasts and explained that the ECA balances are managed with a buffer of roughly plus or minus $20 million. The transcript records the staff recommendation to increase the large-load ECA to an adjusted rate effective Oct. 15 but the meeting transcript’s numeric phrasing for the new large-load rate was not clearly recorded in a single unambiguous form; the board’s action adopted the ordinance as presented by staff.

No separate amendments to the ordinance were offered on the floor during the meeting. The transcript does not include the ordinance number or the precise new cents-per-kilowatt-hour figure in a clear, single string; those details should be obtained from the city clerk’s official ordinance record for posting and public notice.","The Public Utilities Board voted unanimously Aug. 25 to adopt an ordinance revising the electric cost adjustment (ECA) for large loads, approving a rate change effective Oct. 15; staff presented forecasts and recommended the increase to maintain target account balances.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6483159,"Denton board approves Mayhill Renewables contract to convert landfill gas into fuel",311,102000,413000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5671829-2f5a877e231f357d598afeda15de757e&start=102&end=413","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5671829-2f5a877e231f357d598afeda15de757e/thumbnail_102000.jpg","/articles/6483159/Denton-City/Denton-County/Texas/Denton-board-approves-Mayhill-Renewables-contract-to-convert-landfill-gas-into-fuel","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6483159-725634aebe2a935d48c0bf6400556f5b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771192038&Signature=DPKI0wip1RlOjyPdpq26Ng8X85KRk1rq8WvnuePmi~rxTVLQ9fDOnXWKdYkpXWVGC5XH7RlYfP2RGFg~BwQWHcGTKou5qqC71dvLPCpCj-sakoiNgwHVqGQ398wxHB~mDSiiW5fOrtUY63R1OflCg4CUwEZ1EbCbdkhspbudnDah937f1w~HBeOM98kEwgtIQ6nDAkJsSMYRzQ-nhOyjOOMBzkeZzBCwTUB4Z3kSRsRJSor2OIJXqks9XtHqcHp9a-WIi4vSItBkmGmqKobzBiC1VZ7O1aybDEujotdT6vvKoahyaHTmXdvhiWSC3rYOOfxfta7yrB9TBdQebbV-dQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Denton Public Utilities Board on Aug. 25 unanimously approved contracts authorizing Mayhill Renewables (Moro Energy) to operate and expand the city landfill gas collection system, refine collected gas into a high-BTU fuel and sell the product on the open market.

City Solid Waste Director Brenda Haney told the board the project is intended to turn gas the city currently flares into a revenue-producing, lower-carbon fuel. \"We are working to execute this agreement that will move us forward, will give us a beneficial reuse of that landfill gas, lessen our carbon footprint and, turn something beneficial and profitable out of 1 of the nuisances of owning and operating a landfill,\" Haney said.

The board approved authority to execute both a lease agreement and a gas-rights agreement with the company that will do business on the site as Mayhill Renewables. Haney said the city currently collects gas from 139 wells and is flaring that output; the new operator will assume operations of the well field, expand collection, clean and compress the gas and sell it, likely into the ATMOS line.

Haney said the city previously operated a landfill gas-to-energy facility that ran until 2020 and was later decommissioned. The contract approved Aug. 25 will replace the prior arrangement; city staff did not provide detailed commercial terms or projected revenue figures in the meeting record.

The motion to approve the lease and gas-rights agreements passed unanimously. The transcript does not record the mover and seconder by name for this specific motion.

Board discussion included brief questions about whether the landfill currently operates an ELR (enhanced landfill reclamation) system and whether city vehicles were considered as potential users of processed gas; Haney said the ELR system is not currently operating and reiterated that vehicle-fueling trials in the past were \"not terribly successful.\" No further conditions or implementation timeline were recorded during the meeting.

The board's action authorizes staff to execute the agreements; the transcript did not list any immediate follow-up tasks, contract amounts, or an implementation schedule.","The Public Utilities Board unanimously approved lease and gas-rights agreements with Mayhill Renewables (Moro Energy) to operate and expand the landfill gas collection system, refine landfill gas into a high-BTU fuel and sell it on the open market.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Denton staff outlines utility-billing policy changes for deposits, payment plans and leak adjustments

Denton board adopts ordinance to raise large-load electric cost adjustment effective Oct. 15

Denton board approves Mayhill Renewables contract to convert landfill gas into fuel