There is a line on every PenTex Energy bill called the Securitization Fee. It is the long tail of Winter Storm Uri, it costs a typical household roughly $20 to $30 a month — and if your household is lower-income, a fund exists that will credit it back to you, month after month, for two years at a time. Many eligible households have never applied.
The Brazos Electric Ratepayer Hardship Fund pays bill credits that offset the Uri charge for qualifying members of Brazos-affiliated electric cooperatives. PenTex Energy — the cooperative serving rural Cooke County and Muenster — is one of them.
Why the fee is on your bill
During the February 2021 winter storm, the state grid operator let wholesale power prices run to $9,000 per megawatt-hour — several hundred times normal — for days. Brazos Electric, the generation cooperative that supplied PenTex and 15 other Texas co-ops, was billed more than $2 billion and filed for bankruptcy within weeks. Under a 2021 state law, the surviving debt was converted into long-term bonds, repaid through a per-kilowatt-hour charge on every member's bill.
On PenTex bills the fee has appeared since January 2023 and currently runs $0.02146 per kWh — $21.46 for every 1,000 kWh you use. A household using 1,500 kWh in a summer month pays about $32. The charge is "non-bypassable": every member pays it, including people who joined the co-op after the storm, and it can stay on bills for up to 28 years. The rate is recalculated about every six months.
Who qualifies for the credit
The hardship fund was built into the Brazos bankruptcy plan — a trust reported at $140 million, designed to run about ten years. You qualify in either of two ways:
1. Someone in your household already participates in a qualifying program: SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or TANF. Proof is the program's award or case-action letter.
2. Your household income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. Under the 2026 guidelines, that means:
| Household size | Yearly income at or below | Monthly |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | $31,920 | $2,660 |
| 2 | $43,280 | $3,607 |
| 3 | $54,640 | $4,553 |
| 4 | $66,000 | $5,500 |
| 5 | $77,360 | $6,447 |
| Each additional person | + $11,360 | — |
The income bar used to be tighter — 150% of the poverty level. If you applied in the program's early years and were denied, you may qualify now and can reapply.
What you get
Approved households receive a monthly bill credit intended to offset the securitization fee — either the actual amount charged or an estimate set by program rules, since the fee moves with your usage. At PenTex's current rate, that's roughly $250 to $390 a year for typical households. Eligibility lasts two years, and you can recertify when it lapses if you still qualify.
How to apply
Apply free at brazoshardshipfund.com — online, or by printing the application from the same page. You will need:
- A recent copy of your electric bill showing the service address, account number and account holder's name; and
- Proof of program participation (SNAP, Medicaid, SSI or TANF letter), or income documents — recent pay stubs covering two months, your latest tax return or W-2, Social Security or unemployment documentation, or a bank statement showing direct-deposited benefits.
Questions: 844-770-8549, Monday–Friday, 8:30 AM–5:00 PM Central, or [email protected]. The fund's administrator (Solix) checks eligibility; your own co-op then sets the credit on your bill.
Does this apply to your utility?
- PenTex Energy members: yes. PenTex appears on the fund's participating-cooperative list, alongside nearby Brazos members like Wise Electric and CoServ.
- Grayson-Collin Electric members: no — but you have a cousin of this fee. Grayson-Collin's Uri charge comes from a separate securitization by its own wholesale supplier, Rayburn Country Electric, and is not covered by the Brazos fund.
- If your electricity comes from a retail provider rather than one of these cooperatives, this fee and this fund do not appear on your bill.
One more thing worth knowing: a hardship credit covers only the Uri charge. If you're struggling with the rest of the bill, utility assistance programs run separately — check with local assistance organizations about help with the remainder.
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