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Newberry staff proposes utility rate increases as depreciation and $80 million wastewater project loom
Summary
City staff presented a 2026 budget that would raise electric rates 4.5%, water rates 7.5% (tiered), and wastewater rates 8.5%, while flagging a sharp rise in depreciation costs tied to a planned wastewater treatment plant and asking the commission for policy direction on how to fund depreciation.
City staff presented the proposed 2026 budget and recommended rate changes for Newberry’s utilities Tuesday, saying electric rates would rise 4.5%, water rates 7.5% with larger increases in higher tiers, and wastewater rates 8.5% for all customer classes. The increases would raise average monthly bills by about $5.37 for electric, $4.30 for water (for an 8,000-gallon monthly user) and $5.91 for wastewater, for a combined average increase of $15.58 per residential customer, staff said. Dallas, the city’s budget presenter, told commissioners the city is not projecting an increase in the Power Cost Adjustment and that, “It’ll actually stay about flat this year. So we’re not projecting an increase in the PCA for next year.” Why it matters: staff said the city’s utilities face rising input costs across electric, water and sewer — from transformers and poles to copper and underground cable — and that a…
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