BWL hopes to raise electric, water rates for Lansing area customers
The Lansing Board of Water & Light is poised to raise electricity rates by 9% and water rates more than 18% in the next two years, officials confirmed.
The city-owned utility is holding a public hearing for the increase at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the REO Depot, 1203 S. Washington Ave.
A typical customer of both electric and water could have an utility bill increase of nearly $200 a year by December 2023 if both hikes are approved.
"There was a forecasted rate increase the last two years, however, because of the pandemic, we postponed recognizing many customers were struggling financially," according to a statement from BWL. "The rate increase is reflective of the cost of inflation and ensures the BWL can maintain and continue to improve aging infrastructure to provide safe, reliable and affordable utility services."
The rate increases would affect around 100,000 electric and 58,000 water customers. The last increase for water, electric and steam was in February 2020, according to the BWL.
Rate increases would include:
A 4.5% increase in electric costs starting in November of 2022 and another 4.5% in November of 2023. A 750 kWh usage customer, which is typical user according to BWL, would pay an extra of $4.73 a month beginning in November and another $5.57 a month as of November of 2023, according to the BWL. The average BWL customer used 549 kWh/month in 2018, according to BWL.
Residential water customers would see a 9.2% monthly increase in November 2022 and a 9.3% monthly increase in November 2023. A home that uses 3,740 gallons/month would see an increase of $3.35 in November 2022 and $3.71 in November 2023.
The rate increase would start Nov. 1, 2022, and the additional charges would begin to show up on bills starting in December.
The BWL Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on the increase during a Sept. 27 meeting. Any rate increase would not require the approval of the state's Public Service Commission since BWL is a public utility, BWL spokeswoman Amy Adamy said in a statement.
The utility is also increasing costs for steam and chilled water, which are primarily used by business and governmental customers.
The last increase for chilled water was 2014. Chilled water would increase by 4% and steam by almost 10% under the proposal.
The increases, if approved, would raise be an overall $5.2 million increase for electric, $4.4 million for water, $900,000 for steam and $200,000 for chilled water, according to the BWL.
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said in a statement that the BWL board is expected to study any increase carefully and take public input.
Michigan is the 10th most populous state and according to a 2020 federal report, the latest available, it is on par with its electric use as the 10th highest-user of electric power with electric costs that are close to the national average.
Consumers Energy last year obtained a rate increase of about $0.59 a month for a 500 kWh home, almost 90% less than what the utility had sought, and is seeking another increase this fall. DTE Energy is seeking a 8.8% rate increase, or about $10 a month for some residential homes.
There are two community fairs this week to help people fill out applications for financial relief and to be connected to various relief programs. The fairs are Tuesday (1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Letts Community Center, 1220 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing) and Wednesday (4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Alfreda Schmidt Community Center, 5825 Wise Rd., Lansing).
The fairs include a dozen agencies from housing and health to finances and food programs. People unable to make the fairs can get BWL assistance at 517-702-6006.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Why BWL wants to raise electric, water rates for Lansing area customers
