At the November board meeting, the Powdersville Water (PW) Board of Directors approved the utility’s proposed budget for 2018. The new budget calls for a 2.5 percent rate increase for retail customers that will become effective with the January, 2018 billing. The recommendation for the increase was the result of PW’s annual financial plan and rate modeling update. Each year PW performs an annual update of its comprehensive 10-Year financial plan and rate model to ensure that rates are adequate to cover projected expenditures for the coming year. This process takes into account not only the ongoing expenses of operating the system on a day-to-day basis, but also debt service costs and any planned capital improvements.

The rate increase for 2018 was driven by two key factors:

• The need for a continuous upgrade to the existing water infrastructure to keep up with the Powdersville community’s rapid growth.
• Investments in various technologies to improve customer service, staff efficiency and water conservation.

“Our staff has always tried to create a plan that prepares us for the future”, explained Executive Director Dyke Spencer. “The rapid growth we are now experiencing causes us to add system upgrades at a quicker pace. I am very proud of our staff and what they were able to accomplish this year. We look forward to another very busy year.”

With the increase, PW rates remain comparable to other similar sized utilities across the state. A typical PW residential customer who uses a typical 6,000 gallons per month can expect to pay $42.46 per month with the new rate in place.