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Who Really Runs Brownsville PUB? The Charter Power Most Residents Have Never Heard Of

3 days ago
7 min read

Three numbers explain who controls your electric, water and sewer service in Brownsville.


1960. The year residents voted to create the Brownsville Public Utilities Board through the city charter.


7. The number of seats on the board that runs it. None of them are on your ballot except the mayor's.


10 percent. The share of BPUB's adjusted gross revenue the City of Brownsville collects every quarter.


Most residents never think about any of this until something goes wrong. Something did. Between 2013 and 2016, BPUB customers paid about $118 million in rate increases, according to a city-commissioned forensic report, for a Tenaska power plant that was never built. That story showed how the system works. The system itself is still mostly in place.


Here is who holds the power, where it comes from, and why it matters now.




THE CLAUSE: "ABSOLUTE AND COMPLETE"


Brownsville's charter is the city's constitution. Article VI is the section that governs BPUB.


In October 2022, City Attorney Victor Flores told the Brownsville Herald that the charter says BPUB "shall have absolute and complete authority and power over control" of the City's electric, water, wastewater and sewer systems.


BPUB reads it the same way. Its 2026 to 2030 strategic business plan says the charter gives the board "full control and management of utility operations, assets, and revenues, except as otherwise provided by law."


Flores said the charter has BPUB operating "as its own entity, as a private corporation even." He called it an unusual amount of autonomy compared with other Texas cities that own their utilities.


Document page titled ARTICLE VI. - UTILITIES BOARD, Section 1.-Management, with dense legal text about Brownsville utilities board and blue icons.





WHO HOLDS WHAT POWER


The BPUB board. Seven members, including the mayor as a voting member. The board runs the utility day to day and sets its direction. It decides how the systems are operated, what gets built, which contracts get signed, and how BPUB's money is managed. Under the charter, BPUB "shall appoint and employ all officers," including the general manager, Flores said.


The general manager. Hired by the board and answerable to the board. Not to the City Commission, and not to voters.


The City Commission. Elected by you. Its power over BPUB comes in a few specific places:

- It appoints BPUB board members. Since 2023, that takes a two-thirds supermajority, with each commissioner making a nomination when a seat opens.

- It can remove up to three board members in a 12-month period, also by a two-thirds supermajority. Before 2023, it could remove only one member a year, and only by unanimous vote.

- It approves BPUB's rates, fees and charges. BPUB's strategic plan says the commission "retains the authority to set rates."

- It approves bonds and debt. The 2012 Tenaska rate increases went through the City Commission.


What the commission cannot do is just as important. In October 2022, Flores said the charter does not give commissioners the authority to remove BPUB officers or employees. That is why, when the public demanded the firing of BPUB's CEO after the forensic report, the elected commission could not do it. The BPUB board placed him on paid leave, and he later retired.


You, the voter. You elect the mayor and commissioners. You vote on charter amendments. That's it. No BPUB board seat appears on your ballot.


How other cities do it. Flores pointed to Lubbock, whose charter lets the city appoint and remove the city-owned utility's general manager, and to Denton, where the city council itself serves as the utility board.


THE MONEY: WHY THE CITY HAS A STAKE IN HIGHER BILLS


The charter has sent some BPUB money to the City since 1960. For decades, the two split any year-end surplus 50-50.


That changed in 2005. Under Bond Ordinance 2005-1438, the City became entitled to 10 percent of BPUB's adjusted gross revenue every quarter. That's gross revenue minus energy production costs, BPUB's contributions to the Southmost Regional Water Authority, and what the City owes for its own utility service. BPUB's chief financial officer, Mike Perez, said in 2022 that the change meant more revenue for the City.


Here is why that matters. When BPUB revenue goes up, the City's check goes up. And the City Commission is the body that approves BPUB's rates.


The Tenaska forensic report called that a conflict of interest for the City. After the Tenaska rate hikes were in place, BPUB transfers made up nearly 10 percent of the City budget in fiscal 2017. According to BPUB, the City's 10 percent share of the Tenaska rate revenue came to $11,386,293.


The formula holds even when the utility is losing money. After the February 2021 winter storm, BPUB's transfer to the City rose from $11.1 million in 2020 to $20.5 million in 2021, even as BPUB reported about $49 million in storm-related losses. BPUB asked the Commission to waive $10 million of the transfer. The Commission said no.


The cost is in your bill. BPUB finance committee member Joseph Hollmann said in 2022 that the transfers are built into the base rate customers pay. In his words, "it would almost be fair to say that we have a 10-percent tax on our utility usage that is imposed by the city of Brownsville."


It is still a big part of the City budget. In fiscal 2025, the City's general fund took in $12.06 million in cash transfers from BPUB plus $4.70 million in utility services, about $16.8 million combined, or roughly 12 percent of $137.8 million in general fund revenue. The proposed fiscal 2027 budget counts on $10.2 million in BPUB cash transfers and $3.69 million in utility services.


And it is hard to change. Flores told the City's charter review committee in 2022 that changing the formula would mean amending the bond ordinance, not the charter, and restructuring bond documents. Perez said the ordinance supersedes the charter. A charter election cannot fix it. Only the City Commission, working through its bonds, can.


WHAT TENASKA SHOWED ABOUT THIS SYSTEM


The Tenaska deal is the clearest example of what this structure allows. The findings below come from the September 2022 forensic report by Carr, Riggs & Ingram. They are an accounting firm's opinions, not court findings.


The report concluded that BPUB management, with the participation of the mayor at the time, intentionally misrepresented or omitted key information to win board and City approval of the project and its rate increases. It found that board members were usually shown heavily summarized material and that the consultants meant to be the board's independent "eyes and ears" were heavily influenced by management. It found that the board knew the project was dead in November 2017 but did not tell the City Commission or the public until August 2020.


Read that alongside the charter. An appointed board with near-total control. A general manager the elected commission couldn't fire. A city that collected more money while the rate hikes stayed in place. The report found no evidence the board intentionally misled the City, but said its members should have asked harder questions.


WHAT CHANGED, AND WHAT DIDN'T


In May 2023, voters approved Proposition D (supermajority appointment of board members), 6,111 to 2,335, and Proposition E (supermajority removal of up to three members a year), 6,390 to 2,026. Both came directly out of the Tenaska fallout. The commission now has more say over who sits on the board.


What stayed the same: the board's "absolute and complete" control, its power over the general manager, and the 10 percent formula.


On November 3, 2026, Brownsville voters weighed 15 more charter amendments. They covered commission pay, a new City Auditor office, a larger Audit and Oversight Committee, ethics, campaign finance, and citizen initiative and referendum. None of them addressed BPUB by name. Proposition O, the cleanup of outdated charter language, specifically excluded Article VI, the Utilities Board section.


WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FUTURE (ANALYSIS)


Brownsville is heading into the biggest infrastructure decisions it has faced in a generation, and BPUB sits at the center of most of them.


Power. LNG terminals, port industry, SpaceX and data center proposals all need electricity. The City has already paused data center development with a moratorium. Decisions about new generation, long-term power contracts and how to serve large industrial customers will run through the BPUB board.


Water. In November 2025, BPUB presented plans to the City Commission to double the output of the Southmost Regional Water Authority desalination plant, build a 400-million-gallon reservoir and reduce reliance on the Rio Grande. The utility said it is pursuing state and federal grants to limit the cost to residents. Those are multi-decade commitments.


Under the current charter, most of those calls belong to an appointed board and the general manager it hires. The elected commission's main checks are board appointments, rate approvals and bond votes. Voters' main check is electing that commission.


None of this means the current board will repeat Tenaska. It does mean the structure that allowed Tenaska is largely the same structure that will make these next decisions.


WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THIS


Because accountability starts with knowing who to ask.


If you want to know why your bill went up, the rate approval runs through the City Commission. The decisions behind it run through the BPUB board.


If you want to change who runs BPUB, your lever is the City Commission's appointments. Ask candidates for mayor and commission who they would appoint, and whether they would use the removal power.


If you want to change the 10 percent formula, that is a City Commission decision about a bond ordinance. Ask whether they'd change it.


If you want to change BPUB's charter power itself, that takes a charter election. City officials have said charter elections are limited to once every two years. The 2026 election just passed without touching Article VI.


And if you want to watch it happen, the BPUB board meets the second Monday of every month at 1425 Robinhood Drive. Its agendas, minutes and budgets are public records.



SOURCES


- Brownsville Herald / MyRGV, charter changes post Tenaska (Flores on "absolute and complete authority," "private corporation," Lubbock and Denton): https://myrgv.com/?p=140566

- Brownsville Herald / MyRGV, Bond Ordinance 2005-1438 and the charter conflict: https://myrgv.com/?p=144037

- Brownsville Herald / MyRGV, transfer history, winter storm and Hollmann quote: https://myrgv.com/?p=141961

- City of Brownsville Proposed Budget FY2027, pages 17 and 21: https://www.brownsvilletx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/18121

- Carr, Riggs & Ingram, Forensic Examination Report, Sept. 29, 2022, pages 7, 62, 69: https://www.brownsvilletx.gov/2103/Reports

- UTRGV Rider, BPUB fund breakdown ($11,386,293): https://utrgvrider.com/?p=35135

- UTRGV Rider, 2023 charter propositions: https://utrgvrider.com/?p=36865

- MyRGV, May 2023 charter election results: https://myrgv.com/?p=163306

- City of Brownsville, Nov. 3, 2026 charter election FAQ: https://www.brownsvilletx.gov/m/faq?cat=68

- City of Brownsville, Nov. 18, 2025 commission highlights (BPUB water plans): https://www.brownsvilletx.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2851

- City of Brownsville, BPUB board page (meeting time and place): https://www.brownsvilletx.gov/158/Public-Utilities-Board-BPUB


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