A Bowie, Texas commercial ratepayer, exasperated over with what he calls “outrageous” utility bills, has initiated a public petition seeking “competitive” rates for his community, according to an October 17 report in the Wichita Falls Times Record News.

Terry Frazier, owner of Say Anything Designs, a custom tee-shirt design company based in Bowie, has been soliciting signatures for the petition. He would like to gather about 2,500 names – representing half of the town’s current population – before he presents it to the City Council in mid-November.

The petition states, “We the people ask for competitive rates based on current market trends of utility service in the city limits of Bowie,” the local news outlet stated.

Frazier, who has done business in Bowie for about two years, told the Times Record News,”My wife and I talked about it for months, talked to neighbors and friends. It just seemed like someone needed to take control of it, so I jumped on it.

“There has been a good response — of course, everyone wants a rate reduction. Getting the support will show the community is behind it,” Frazier said.

Frazier calls the current Bowie bulk power contract with Bryan Texas Utilities “ridiculous.” He said, “The rate is 4 to 8 cents a kilowatt-hour (kWh) outside the city, and we pay 15 cents. I know [getting satisfaction] won’t be overnight due to the 30-year contract, but you have to start somewhere.”

Based on the most recent utility rates, residential customers in Bowie pay a $10 customer charge, a distribution and wires charge of .0595 /kWh, and a wholesale power and transmission charge of .0922/kWh for a total of .1517/kWh.

The changes were made earlier this year after a rate study. The new rate was actually a small decrease from the previous .15504 /kWh rate, the news outlet reported.

That October 2015 rate study showed Bowie was second highest of eight area municipal power providers in electricity at .1507/kWh compared with Seymour at .1505/kWh; Bridgeport, .1409; and Sanger at .1381.