At their November meeting, the Powdersville Water (PW) Board of Directors approved the operating budget for 2022. The new budget includes a 4 percent rate increase for customers that will become effective with the January 2022 billing.
The recommendation for the increase was the result of PW’s annual financial plan and cost of service rate model, which includes $4.2 million to increase the capacity of two major transmission mains as well as other smaller capital expenditures needed in order for to PW meet the increasing demands on the distribution system.
Each year PW completes an annual update of its comprehensive 10-Year financial plan and rate model to ensure that rates are adequate to cover projected expenditures for the coming year and for future years. This process takes into account not only the ongoing expenses of operating the system on a day-to-day basis but also increasing material costs, debt service costs and any planned capital improvements.
With the increase, PW rates remain comparable to other similar sized utilities across the state. A typical PW residential customer who uses 5,000 gallons per month can expect to see an increase of pay $1.56 per month with the new rate in place.
