The Brownsville City Commission will hold two Special Meetings Monday and Tuesday where the commission is expected to vote on a temporary moratorium that will benefit Brownsville Public Utilities Board customers.
The temporary moratorium would prevent BPUB from charging customers late fees and prevent the disconnection of utility services for non-payment until Feb. 23, 2023, according to the agenda item.
Brownsville BPUB customers experienced high rate increases in their utility bills over the past three months with some customers reporting bills as high as $1,000. Some experienced rate increase of up to $300 from one month to the next.
At last week’s City Commission meeting, resident A. Gomez told the commission the electricity had been disconnected at her residence twice, without any notice. ” This is what is going on in the community…We need a moratorium for people. We can’t pay our bills. They are really high.”
Because there needs to be two readings of the item for final approval, the City Commission needs to hold two meetings.
Both meetings will begin at 5 p.m. at Brownsville City Hall at 1001 E. Elizabeth St.
The BPUB Board will also hold a Special Meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday where board members will continue to address the status of CEO John Bruciak, who was placed on 60 days administrative leave with pay at its Oct. 17 meeting.
The meeting will be held at the BPUB Annex Building Boardroom at 1425 Robinhood Dr.
Bruciak has been under scrutiny regarding the release of an audit pertaining to the failed Tenaska project that found BPUB management contrived an electrical capacity shortage and intentionally used “outdated and overstated” load forecast data to justify its pursuit of the project.
According to an agenda item that will be discussed in executive session there will be “Deliberations regarding the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties or discipline of the CEO of the Brownsville Public Utilities Board.”
Another item to be discussed in executive session reads “Consideration of duties of Interim CEO and possible appointment of Interim CEO.” In addition, they will continue discussion on the forensic audit conducted by Carr, Riggs & Ingram.
The audit was released Oct. 4 by the Brownsville City Commission which in 2021 requested an audit on BPUB be conducted. A day after the audit was released an online petition was created calling for the firing an investigation of Bruciak.
While CRI found no evidence that BPUB’s board intentionally misled the city during key decisions and acknowledged that board members may have had difficulty grasping all the highly technical information being presented to them by BPUB management and consultants, the analysis concluded nonetheless that more questions should have been asked.
At all three meetings, commissioners and board members will discuss and possibly take action on proposed use of fees, rates and other funds collected to support the, now terminated, Tenaska Project, including proposed uses and distribution of Tenaska equity funds.
Brownsville City Commissioners on Monday are expected to give final approval to amend an ordinance establishing the full rollback rate, returning retail energy and demand charges to Oct. 1, 2013 rates, be affective Dec. 1, 2022 instead of May 3, 2023.
