Eugene Water & Electric Board customers will likely see a roughly 7% increase in water and electric rates next year.
EWEB Commissioners Tuesday approved moving forward with a $502 million budget plan.
The majority of the budget funds daily operations of the utility. EWEB is also budgeting for construction of a second water treatment plant on the Willamette River. Commissioner John Barofsky said raising rates is a hard pill to swallow.
“If we didn’t feel it was needed for our community to build this second source water treatment plant and to make sure all of our infrastructure is where we want it to be, we wouldn't be making these things, and we don’t take these types of decisions lightly,” he said.
Under the proposal, an average customer in a small home or apartment would see about a $9 increase in their monthly bill.
It would be a roughly $18 increase for an all-electric single family home.
To ease the impact, EWEB is deferring some costs to the future. Commissioners have also directed an additional $100,000 for bill assistance, bringing 2027 funding to $2.2 million.
EWEB says the 2027 budget funds early design and engineering for a second water treatment plant. The utility says having a second water source will make it more resilient and better prepared for an earthquake and other disasters.
EWEB has other infrastructure projects in the works. That includes rebuilding the Jessen Substation in West Eugene, and advancing federally required dam safety and fish passage at EWEB’s Carmen-Smith hydroelectric project.
The utility is also saving for future decommissioning of the retired Leaburg Dam and completing construction of new earthquake-resilient storage tanks and pipelines at College Hill.
Final budget approval is in December.
