CU budget awaits council’s vote

The Board of Public Utilities adopted the budget Aug. 25. City Council will hold a first reading on the budget Sept. 6, and a second reading and vote should follow Sept. 19, said CU spokesman Mark Viguet. The budget would go into effect Oct. 1.

No changes were made to the budget from its proposed version, despite concerns expressed by board members over funding for energy conservation projects.

“The board was referencing additional monies based on the desire from the community task force to look at doing a more aggressive type of effort. Those monies are not in the budget,” Viguet said.

The budget does account for conservation studies, and a task force will work to determine the best approach for conservation in Springfield before money is put aside for project funding, he said.

“Rather than putting numbers in the budget and try to back into them, we’re going to take the approach of measuring twice and cutting once,” he said.

The budget calls for a 2 percent increase in natural gas rates and a 3 percent increase in water rates.

Major projects in the budget include the completion of the landfill gas-to-energy project at Noble Hill landfill, an expansion of the cooling tower at James River Power Station, construction of a natural-gas peak shaving facility and work on the raw water pipeline between Fellows Lake and Blackman Water Treatment Plant.