COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Coldwater Board of Public Utilities Board of Directors approved the utility’s first increase in electric rates since April 2019 on Wednesday night.
A power point presentation from Mark Beauchamp of Utility Financial Solutions discussed an annual overall electric rate increase of two percent for each of the next three years.
He said Coldwater has kept up with its rates for the last 20 years so the adjustments have been small. Beauchamp said, “nobody likes rate adjustments…customers rather see small periodic rate adjustments rather than hold them off and have them in a large adjustment.”
Coldwater B.P.U. Director Jeff Budd says the average residential customer will see a 2.7 percent increase which equates to roughly an increase of between two and three dollars a month. Commercial industrial customers would be among those seeing a a 1-point-7 percent increase.
He also pointed out that as of this past April, the CBPU residential electric rates were about 30 percent less than Consumer’s Energy. This is before Consumer’s surcharge for peak energy use and their most recent request for an eight-point-eight percent increase to the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Budd says they delayed increasing rates last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed rates would be effective September 1, 2021.
A complete breakdown of the proposed rates can be found in Wednesday’s CBPU Board Agenda which has been posted at www.coldwater.org.
The City Council is scheduled to take action on the rate increase resolution on Monday night.
Comments