LP&L Held Its Delivery Rate Flat. The New Base Charge Changes Who Pays.

As of Nov. 1, Lubbock Power & Light charges residential customers less per kilowatt-hour to deliver power. It also charges a flat $2.50 a month just for having a meter. KCBD reported that LP&L described the package as holding its rate steady, and on the utility's own math, total delivery revenue doesn't go up.

Flat in total doesn't mean flat for every house. Moving money from a per-kWh charge to a fixed fee always creates winners and losers, and the line between them is set by how much electricity a home uses. That matters if you're comparing a compact, efficient home with a large older one. It also matters if you're closing on a house that may not be on LP&L's lines at all.

Where the Break-Even Falls

The numbers come straight from the two tariffs. Under the FY 2025-26 schedule, effective Nov. 1, 2025, residential delivery had no base charge. It billed $0.05628 per kWh for delivery, plus a $0.00167 transition charge and a $0.00517 franchise fee. The FY 2026-27 schedule, effective Nov. 1, 2026, adds the $2.50 base charge, lowers delivery to $0.05324 per kWh, and leaves the other two charges unchanged.

In LP&L's presentation to City Council, the all-in residential per-kWh rate drops from $0.06312 to $0.06008, with the $2.50 base charge on top. Each kWh now costs 0.304 cents less to deliver. Divide the $2.50 fee by that savings and the break-even is about 822 kWh a month. That figure is our calculation, not one LP&L published, and LP&L hasn't released an average-usage number to compare it with.

Here's what LP&L's delivery charges come to at a few monthly usage levels. These are delivery charges only. Your retail provider's energy charges come on top and aren't part of this change.

None of these swings is dramatic. They're a dollar or two most months, and a few dollars in a heavy summer cooling month. What changed is the direction. A household that uses little electricity now pays LP&L a bit more for delivery, and a household that uses a lot pays a bit less.

Efficiency Is What Brought the Fee Back

LP&L said why it made the change. KCBD reported that Chief Administrative Officer Joel Ivy wanted to give customers a rate cut, but revenue was "going the wrong way." He blamed a mix of weather patterns and more energy-efficient appliances. LP&L representative Matt Rose added that inflation was also squeezing the budget.

LP&L's cost-of-service analysis lays out the gap. The utility estimated a revenue requirement of $143,396,971, against $137,292,568 at the old rates, a shortfall of $6,104,403. Staff still proposed no increase in total rate revenue. The answer was to change how the money is collected. Ivy told KCBD the base charge would bring in about 6% of total revenue and would "solidify a certain amount of money so that we can count on having that." He also pointed out that peers like Encore and CenterPoint have always had one. According to the same report, the base charge hadn't been in place since before Lubbock moved to retail electric competition.

That creates a loop. The poles, wires and meters cost roughly the same whether a house uses 500 kWh or 2,000. When a utility collects nearly all of that cost per kWh, every efficiency gain shrinks its revenue. A fixed fee protects that revenue, and in doing so it trims the reward for saving power. Each kWh a household cuts now takes 0.304 cents less off its LP&L delivery charges than before. A tight new build with efficient equipment gets the least from the per-kWh cut, because it buys the fewest kWh. If you're weighing a newer home against an older one, efficiency still lowers your total bill. Under this structure, it just saves a little less on delivery.

The approval wasn't unanimous at every step. LP&L's Electric Utility Board approved the FY 2026-27 rate schedule 9-0 on Aug. 18, 2026, and sent it to City Council. Council passed it 5-2 on Sept. 8, with Mayor Mark McBrayer and Councilman Gordon Harris voting no, according to KCBD. The same report said McBrayer questioned the outcome after the 2% delivery-rate cut LP&L made two years earlier. He also raised the 2% reduction for primary-service users such as PYCO and X-FAB. Ivy answered that primary rates sit about 16 to 17% above where they need to be. Separately, about $14 million is freed up in January when ERCOT hold-harmless charges end. KCBD reported that money is going to capital projects, including a new substation and the demolition of the decommissioned Massengale Substation.

Inside City Limits, Not Every Home Gets This Bill

The Nov. 1 change only reaches homes on LP&L's wires, and a Lubbock address doesn't guarantee that. LP&L's own tariff says LP&L, South Plains Electric Cooperative, and Southwestern Public Service Company, the Xcel Energy utility, all provide electric service within the City of Lubbock. The Lubbock Economic Development Alliance describes SPEC as serving rural areas around the city and Xcel as serving areas around Lubbock.

The three bills are built differently:

• LP&L territory. City Council opted LP&L's service area into retail competition on Feb. 22, 2022. LP&L owns the lines and meters, and you buy the energy from a retail electric provider. The Public Utility Commission of Texas names Power to Choose as its official plan-comparison site.
• SPEC territory. No provider shopping. SPEC's Rate 1 residential schedule, effective May 1, 2026, charges a $34 monthly service-availability fee plus $0.100460 per kWh, with a $40 monthly minimum. A power cost adjustment is calculated monthly and added per kWh. That rate includes the energy itself, so it doesn't line up item for item with LP&L's delivery-only charges.
• SPS/Xcel territory. Also no provider shopping. Xcel's Texas service-area page points customers to its Texas rate books.

So a $2.50 base charge that's new news for an LP&L household means nothing to a SPEC household a few miles away. That neighbor was already paying a much larger fixed monthly fee under a completely different structure.

What It Changes Around a Closing

1. Confirm the utility for the exact address. SPEC posts an official ArcGIS service-area map on its homepage, and LP&L's tariff includes a service-area map. Xcel's Southwestern Public Service territory map is marked as last updated in January 2016, so treat it as a rough guide.
2. On LP&L homes, book move-in early. Under the current tariff, LP&L's standard move-in for a new meter costs nothing if the order arrives at least two business days before the requested date. A priority move-in on a standard meter costs $75.
3. On new construction, finish the inspections first. LP&L's move-in service isn't available if required inspections, permits or construction other than the meter installation are still incomplete. Builders and buyers lining up a new-construction closing should keep that sequence in mind.
4. On SPEC homes, plan for the deposit. SPEC's new-service page lists a $150 residential deposit, along with conditions for waiving it and terms for refunding it.

Quick Answers

Did LP&L raise rates on Nov. 1?

On LP&L's numbers, total delivery revenue stays flat. Individual bills move a little in either direction depending on usage. By our calculation, homes using less than about 822 kWh a month pay slightly more for delivery, and homes using more pay slightly less.

Does the change affect my retail energy plan?

The tariff covers LP&L's delivery charges. What your retail provider charges for the energy itself is set by your plan and isn't part of this rate schedule.

Is my Lubbock home on LP&L?

Not necessarily. Three utilities serve inside city limits, so check the address against the official service-area maps.

This post is general information, not legal or financial advice. Confirm the rates and terms for your own address directly with your utility or provider.

Utility costs are part of what a house really costs to own, and they're part of what buyers ask about. If you're thinking about selling, Panhandle Realty Group can tell you which utility serves your address and what that means for buyers. Start with your instant home valuation.