Houston City Council rejected a request from a company to raise water rates for residents and business owners at its Nov. 12 meeting.

The request, which came from national utilities company Aqua Texas, would have raised around $30 million in additional revenue for the company.

The big picture: Submitted June 20, Aqua Texas’ request asked for a consolidated statewide tariff, which would bring $17.8 million more in water revenue and $11.4 million more in wastewater revenue to the company under the new consolidated system, according to Houston City Council Nov. 12 meeting documents.

The actual rate change for Houston residents would have varied, but it could have impacted 93 residential customers and at least 62 commercial customers within the city’s limits. Across the state, Aqua Texas has about 76,000 water customers and 25,300 wastewater customers.

Stay tuned: Aqua Texas also submitted a request for unincorporated areas to the Public Utility Commission of Texas and will likely appeal the city’s decision to that commission.

Over 10 years ago, Ben Berg toured a fixer-upper building off Washington Avenue. He said he wanted to find a space with character for his new restaurant, and after seeing a picture of the outside, he loved it. 

Diving deeper: As Berg toured the brick building, he said trees were growing through the brick and that half of a wall wasn’t even there. Berg said there was no plumbing or electricity, but he was determined not to tear it down. 

A decade after opening, B&B Butchers has all of its walls, lots of character and a reputation as a fine-dining steakhouse and butcher shop, featuring dry-aged steaks and Japanese wagyu beef. 

Notable quote: “We opened B&B Butchers with the dream of creating not just a steakhouse, but a place where Houstonians could gather, celebrate and feel at home,” said Berg, founder and CEO of Berg Hospitality Group.

• 1814 Washington Ave., Houston

Because the holiday season can put a strain on struggling families, dozens of organizations across Houston are partnering with local nonprofits and food banks to help provide meals.

For those looking to give, here are 15 local spots to drop off food donations for families in need in the Greater Houston area.

Montgomery County Food Bank: The food bank is partnering with local businesses across the county throughout November and December to collect food donations for the holidays. 

• Through Dec. 31 
• Sample items accepted: cereals, healthy snacks, canned vegetables, canned fruits, grains, canned meat, peanut butter, canned soup, jelly and jam
• 1 Food For Life Way, Conroe

Suburban areas including New Caney East, Porter and West University  are leading the way in home sales growth, according to the Houston Association of Realtors’ latest Hottest Communities report for the third quarter of 2025. 

The top-ranked communities are seeing the largest increase in sales due to affordability and new construction continuing to attract buyers, according to an Oct. 27 news release. Eight of the top 10 communities reported average home prices below Houston’s overall average of $421,655.

The impact: Waller claimed the top spot for the third consecutive quarter with a 94.6% increase in home sales compared to last year. The area recorded 179 sales—more than 80% of which were new construction—with an average price of $335,255, down 13% year over year, according to the release.

The Crosby area followed with a 91.3% increase in sales, while West of the Brazos ranked third with an 86.8% jump. Hockley also made the list, seeing a 76.2% rise in transactions, per the release.

At the Nov. 13 meeting, Harris County commissioners are expected to vote on the county’s worksite safety policy that aims to standardize safety protocols countywide in order to reduce injuries and strengthen worker protections on authorized construction sites. 

Also on the agenda: Two agenda items on the docket are related to how the Harris County engineering department handles its permitting department. The commercial permitting process in Harris County is meant to ensure public welfare and safety, according to county officials. The engineering department will discuss utilizing artificial intelligence to increase efficiency.

Digging deeper: The agenda items come as some new Cy-Fair business owners have told Community Impact the road to opening a business is often paved with unexpected delays in the Cy-Fair area.

Also of note: Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey will also seek discussion and possible action to implement metrics on the permits division.

Harris County Commissioners Court meetings are now being held at 9 a.m. in Downtown Houston.   

Texas is the nation’s largest energy producer, leading other U.S. states in both natural gas production and renewable energy generation, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows. Yet as people, businesses and data centers continue to move to the state, experts say Texas leaders need to harness new strategies to make energy more affordable and ensure the state power grid remains reliable.

The details: Amid high inflation nationwide, energy prices are on the rise in Texas, and residents are feeling the strain, experts said at the Texas Energy Summit, which ran from Nov. 4-6 in Austin.

In a June 2025 report, the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization, found that 65% of low-income Texans recently engaged in “energy-limiting behaviors,” such as turning off their air conditioning to reduce electric bills or underheating their homes in the winter. 

What they're saying: Experts said state lawmakers and officials could invest in energy efficiency and residential demand response programs to tackle affordability and grid reliability issues.