Hey there! I wanted to share a quick recap of my morning at the City of Denton Public Utilities Board meeting on Monday, March 9, 2026. If you’ve never sat in on a municipal board meeting before, I’d highly recommend it—it’s a lot more conversational (and surprisingly efficient) than you might expect.
I arrived at City Hall on E. McKinney Street just in time for the 9:00 a.m. call to order in the Council Work Session Room. The atmosphere was quiet but focused, with board members settling in and staff ready at the front. We kicked off with the public comments slot, but there were no speakers that day, so we moved straight into business.
The consent agenda flew by. It covered a handful of routine contracts and ordinance updates: a professional services agreement with Freese and Nichols for AC installation support at the Lake Lewisville Water Treatment Plant, a construction contract with 4X Construction Group for the Landfill’s Cell 6 project, and an update to the utility billing adjustment period provisions. No one pulled any items for separate discussion, and with a quick motion and second, the entire consent agenda passed unanimously. Right after, we approved the February 23rd minutes without a hitch.
Next up was the quarterly electric rate review, and this is where things got a bit more detailed. Melissa Cuevas from DME walked us through the numbers. She explained that the native load Energy Cost Adjustment (ECA) is staying put at 0.0462 cents per kWh, which keeps a healthy $16 million buffer by year-end. For large load customers, staff recommended a slight bump to 0.0606 cents per kWh, while the Transmission Cost Recovery Factor (TCRF) is actually dropping to 0.0156 cents per kWh. That TCRF decrease should translate to roughly a 1.5% bill reduction across residential and commercial rate classes. There was a thoughtful back-and-forth about the new 12-month lock-in period for commercial rate classifications and how accounts will be reviewed retroactively. The board seemed really appreciative of the quarterly breakdowns—one member even noted how helpful it’s been to track the fund balances and see the rates moving in a stable, predictable direction. The ordinance recommendation passed unanimously.
We wrapped the formal agenda with a quick management report. Staff touched on the Pecan Creek Water Reclamation Plant memo, noted a scheduling tweak for an upcoming work session to accommodate a board member’s absence, and reminded everyone to mark their calendars for the budget process meetings coming up. They also mentioned they’d be bringing back a separate memo on electric commercial rates next month.
After the regular meeting wrapped, we transitioned into a work session, and this was definitely the highlight of the morning. Matt Hamilton, the City’s CFO, stepped up to talk about online credit card processing fees and how the city recovers those costs. He laid out the history—how convenience fees were removed back in 2020 after card brand rules changed, leaving the city to absorb the growing expense through utility base rates. Those costs jumped about 20% last year to roughly $1.57 million, mostly driven by a surge in online payment volume rather than higher interchange rates.
Matt walked us through three recovery options: keep the status quo, add a flat convenience fee (around $2.90 per transaction), or implement a new “service fee” structure that allows a percentage-based charge. The board really dug into the fairness and practicality of each. There was a lively discussion about residential versus commercial card usage, how business cards carry higher interchange rates, and whether a flat fee or percentage made more sense. One board member pointed out that e-checks (or ACH payments) cost pennies to process, and steering customers toward that would save the city millions. The conversation naturally leaned toward a 1.55% service fee applied to all card transactions (excluding e-checks), which would recover the costs without burdening everyone’s base utility rates. After hashing out the math, the six-month implementation timeline, and the need for clear customer education, someone moved to recommend Option Three. It was seconded, passed unanimously, and the work session wrapped.
The meeting adjourned right after, with a brief note that a closed session would follow for competitive energy matters, as outlined in the agenda. I headed out feeling like I’d gotten a pretty clear picture of how Denton’s utilities are balancing rate stability, cost recovery, and customer convenience. Municipal meetings might sound dry on paper, but sitting in on one really shows how much careful consideration goes into the everyday services we rely on. Thanks for reading along with me—I’ll catch you at the next one!