CU proposes rate increases for water, gas

If the Board of Public Utilities approves the budget Aug. 25, the water rate increase will go into effect Dec. 1, and the natural gas rate increase will go into effect April 1. Electric rates will remain the same, City Utilities General Manager John Twitty said at the board's Aug. 8 budget briefing.

The proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 projects total 2006 expenditures at $373.1 million, an increase of $30 million from 2005. Twitty attributes the increase mostly to growing costs of fuel and purchased power.

Expenditures include the expansion of the James River Power Station Cooling Tower and the completion of a $3.2 million landfill gas-to-energy system.

Total projected receipts for the year are $382.1 million, up $36.5 million from last year because of customer growth and the recovery of higher coal prices, Twitty said.

Board members expressed concern that funds are not earmarked for specific energy conservation projects. Twitty said the budget allows for funds to be spent on at least an analysis of Springfield’s conservation possibilities, but these funds could be “packaged better.”

Twitty assured the board the budget would be revised to include earmarked conservation funds before the board meets Aug. 16 for a public hearing.

“There’s a desire by some in the community for us to do more, and we’ll spend the money wisely based on what will work in Springfield,” he said.

The hearing, 7 p.m. at 301 E. Central, also will allow for in-depth discussion of 2006 projects.