LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Boulder City residents will soon see their electric, water, and sewer rates go up.
Boulder City Council voted to approve the increase on July 11. City Manager Taylour Tedder said the city enlisted the help of a consulting firm called Raftelis to conduct a rate study. Boulder City is what Tedder calls a "full-service city," so citizens there get their electric, water, and sewer through the city. Tedder said the cost of providing those services has gone up.
"Over the past few years, market rates and inflation has greatly increased. So the cost for power specifically on the open market has increased 6 times. So our costs have risen greatly, especially with all that's happened throughout the pandemic and the economy and the supply chain. So we realized we needed to adjust our rates," Tedder said.
Here are the following increases Boulder City residents can expect:
- Electric rates are to be unbundled, meaning that the energy charge and the delivery charge will be separated and shown as two different charges. The energy charge is the cost of the power, and the delivery charge encompasses the cost to maintain the infrastructure to deliver the power. Raftelis recommended that each charge begin increasing at a rate of 4% annually for the next three fiscal years.
- Water rates increase by 2.5% annually for the next three fiscal years.
- Wastewater rates to be increased at 2.5% annually for the next three fiscal years.
According to city documents, monthly billing impacts to residential customers using 500 kWh of energy and 3,000 gallons of water monthly will be about $3. Monthly impacts to residential customers using 1,100 kWh of energy and 14,000 gallons of water monthly will be about $4. Monthly impacts to residential customers using 2,500 kWh of energy and 26,000 gallons of water monthly will be about $9.
For commercial customers, monthly impacts to commercial customers using 1,500 kWh of energy, 7 kW of power demand, and 5,000 gallons of water monthly will be about $8. Monthly impacts to commercial customers using 3,000 kWh of energy, 12 kW of power demand, and 11,000 gallons of water monthly will be about $14. Monthly impacts to commercial customers using 24,000 kWh of energy, 83 kW of power demand, and 100,000 gallons of water monthly will be about $138.
"What we've come up with is a really reasonable increase to our rates," Tedder said. "Our residents currently enjoy rates that are much lower than those of neighboring municipalities like Henderson that utilize NV Energy and even lower than Mesquite."
Tedder said these are the lowest increases they decided they could impose while still helping the city financially as it deals with the increased cost of providing the services.
"The city operates the utility as an enterprise fund but we're also not looking to make money on top of what we need to maintain infrastructure and do capital projects so it's the least amount we could do to operate the utility effectively," Tedder said.
The changes start with the October billing cycle, so residents have time to prepare.
Boulder City offers an Energy Assistance Program, as well as Water and Sewer Assistance Program. Those eligible could get a fixed annual credit of $240 or more to help with those expenses. Applications are available online at www.bcnv.org/utilities and at city hall in the utility billing office. If you need assistance, contact the office at 702-293-9244 and select option 2.
Boulder City also has a Budget Billing Program that calculates your last 12 months of utility costs, then divides it by 12 and bills you for the exact same amount on a monthly basis. To qualify, you must be a residential customer in Boulder City for at least 12 months and your account balance must be zero.
If you need financial assistance with your bills, there is some help available. Emergency Aid provides financial help to Boulder City residents with emergency needs. You can contact them by calling 702-293-0332. For more information, you can also go to their website www.emergencyaidbc.org.
