If Proposition K, the citizen-led petition to add Climate Policy to the City Charter, passes there is an estimated total ANNUAL cost of $4,125,936 and an additional $154,995,000 through 2045. This estimate does not include:
Below is the detailed estimated fiscal impact associated with climate policy implementation as described in Prop K is a breakdown of the policy outline in the following sections. All estimates included in this document are ONLY projections based on available data, current market costs, and conditions, and are subject to change.
If Proposition F, the Council approved Charter amendment to Article III, Section 3.11 (Initiative), there is a potential implementation cost. However, this would only occur if a citizen petition were filed and certified and Council fails to adopt the ordinance or adopts it with amendments. The City Council would then be required to place the proposed ordinance on one of the next two uniform elections at which time the election costs would vary; meaning, if the date falls on an already scheduled citywide election, the cost to add a proposed ordinance would not increase. However, if a special citywide election is called then the cost would depend on the number of other governmental entities that have the need for an election and can share the costs for that election at which time an increase to the City’s budget would be needed. The recent costs for a citywide election have varied between $650,000 and $1,000,000.
Below is a table outlining the breakdown of the estimated costs for the Proposition K:
IT IS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME WHAT IT WOULD COST FOR THE MUNICIPALIZATION OF EL PASO ELECTRIC. If the voters approve adding the petitioner’s climate policy to the City’s Charter, the City may be required to conduct a feasibility study to determine the feasibility and an estimated cost for the municipalization. The feasibility study is estimated to cost about $12 Million and is a multi-year study that averages between 8 to 10 years. The utility was sold to IIF for $4.3 Billion in 2020. EP Electric advised that they have added assets to the utility and estimate they have nearly doubled in value over the last 3 years. Additionally, EP Electric has advised us that they intend to invest another $2 Billion in infrastructure over the next 5 years. At this time, the estimated value is about $8 Billion, according to EP Electric. The utility is not for sale at this time.
Read Yearout Energy’s budgetary estimates for Proposition K which includes the methodologies to the citizen-led petition.
Notice Requirement – Texas Local Government Code 9.004
"An argument might be made that the cost of acquiring the EPE system is $4.3 billion because that is what IIF paid in 2020.
Unfortunately, the acquisition price may not be a good proxy for acquiring and setting up a stand-alone city-owned utility.
A municipalization is a different legal and financial process, which will have to include a partial acquisition of EPE's service area as well as creating a whole new utility function."
H Bailey GroupMarch 2023