Hundreds of customers have contacted KPRC 2 about soaring Aqua Texas water bills. Now, state lawmakers are looking into how the increases were allowed and whether state rules need to change.
State Rep. Gary Gates says he is working with Rep. Cody Harris to examine the rules governing water rate increases and whether Aqua Texas adequately invested in its infrastructure before raising rates.
“I want to know the guidelines that allows a utility company that has monopoly to overnight to be able to raise their rates 100%, 200%, 300%,” Gates told KPRC 2.
The lawmakers’ efforts follow KPRC 2’s reporting on customers who say their water bills have doubled or tripled, including residents in the Lakes of Mission Grove subdivision in Richmond, where the issue first came to light.
Aqua Texas received approval for interim rates from the Public Utility Commission of Texas in March 2026. The new rate structure includes tiered water charges based on consumption and changes to wastewater billing.
The company told the PUC that its infrastructure investments include replacing water mains, drilling new wells, building water and wastewater treatment plants, and upgrading storage tanks.
Gates wants to know whether the utility adequately planned for those costs before seeking higher rates.
“I think we’re going to probably find out that just like CenterPoint, I believe Aqua did not do, especially when they’re sitting there saying that we have all these capital needs,” Gates said.
Those are Gates’ concerns, not findings that Aqua Texas failed to maintain its system.
As customers submit formal complaints, the PUC has begun responding to residents who dispute their bills.
In a Sept. 9 letter to Magnolia customer Steve Bowen, the agency said Aqua Texas billed his account using approved interim rates and actual meter readings. The PUC determined that no billing adjustment appeared warranted.
In a separate response dated Oct. 14, the agency reached a similar conclusion in a Richmond customer’s case, saying Aqua used actual meter readings and charged approved rates. The PUC said a billing adjustment was not required.
However, the agency also found that Aqua Texas failed to respond to the Richmond customer’s complaint within the required 15-day period.
The findings apply to those individual complaints. The PUC has not issued a final decision on Aqua Texas’ pending rate case.
Gates says he plans to meet with the PUC alongside Harris to examine the rules that govern rate increases and determine whether changes are needed.
He also wants to know whether the Legislature needs to close gaps in the rules that may allow sharp increases to take effect.
“The legislature in this situation, the legislature has 100% control and we can put in rules and so forth to govern and how the PUC is going to handle rate increases,” Gates said.
The PUC’s rate case remains pending under Docket No. 58124. Customers can track the case through the commission’s website and may file a protest in the docket.
Gates is asking customers, particularly those in Fort Bend County, to contact his office with specific examples of their water bills and rate increases.
“I would appreciate them reaching out to my office so that I can start working,” Gates said. “I need some real examples.”
He said those accounts could help him present customers’ concerns to regulators and push for answers about how the increases were allowed.
You can send your bills to his official legislative email: gary.gates@house.texas.gov. KPRC 2 will continue following the lawmakers’ efforts and the PUC’s review of Aqua Texas’ rates.
