Columbus Water & Power customers will likely see higher bills in the new year.
The city utility provider wants to raise water rates by 18%, sewer by 8% and stormwater by 2%. Jon Lee, deputy director of Columbus Water & Power, said that will look like a roughly 11.72% increase to customers' bills overall.
Customers who use about 165 gallons of water per day would see an increase between $100 and $150 per year. The exact jump depends on how much water people use, whether people are inside or outside the city, and if they qualify for low-income or senior discounts.
Lee said the proposed increases — which still need to be approved by Columbus City Council — would help fund large water and sewer projects.
Lee also said the projects are happening now in anticipation of rapid growth in the region in the coming years. The Mid-Ohio Planning Commission estimates that central Ohio may have as many as three million residents by 2050.
"It takes a long time to construct these projects," Lee said. "So, we're taking the steps now to ensure that we can continue to supply the region with utility services and water and sewer and stormwater services, as well as power."
"Right now we've got a lot of capacity, but it's projected that we're gonna need additional capacity to serve that growing population."- Jon Lee, deputy director of Columbus Water & Power
Expanding capacity for water and sewer
Columbus Water & Power already serves about 1.4 million customers in more than 30 communities in and around Franklin County, Lee said. The city's three water treatment facilities together processed about 55 billion gallons of water last year — enough to fill Ohio stadium 78 times, according to the utility provider.
Lee said by current projections, Columbus Water & Power will start to "be in a pinch in capacity" by 2040.
So, the city is in the early stages of building a fourth water treatment facility, the Home Road Water Plant. Transmissions and mains for that project are expected to cost $2.3 billion.
The city is also in the middle of a $1 billion lead pipe replacement project.
Other water and sewer projects include capacity upgrades at the three existing water treatment plants, replacing or rehabbing old water lines and continuing the Blueprint Columbus plan that aims to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows.
Lee said water and sewer customers last saw large rate increases about two decades ago, when the city was starting some major sewer projects.
Electric rate increase proposal
Meanwhile, Columbus Water & Power reported that the cost of the wholesale power it buys has gone up — leaving the Division of Power with no choice but to raise electricity rates for its customers.
Average residential electric customers will see an $80 to $126 annual increase. Columbus Water & Power says that's about $7 to $11 each month.
Small commercial electric customers would face a 5% increase in charges, while large commercial customers would see a 16% increase.
The Division of Power uses the rates paid by its roughly 19,000 residential and commercial customers to fund the maintenance of some 60,000 streetlights.
The department is in the middle of a project to upgrade all streetlights to LEDs. The city also plans to add new streetlights to currently unlit neighborhoods.
Columbus City Council is expected to first vote on the rate increases for water, sewer, stormwater and electricity at their Nov. 17 meeting.
The city will hold a public meeting on the proposed rate increases before that, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at Columbus City Hall, which is located at 90 West Broad Street.
