Springville council adopts ordinance backing power impact fee study; commercial fees to rise about 89%

Springville City Council voted to adopt Ordinance No. 12-2024, approving a power impact fee study and proposed fee changes for new or upgraded connections to the Springville City Power System. The council recorded a roll-call vote with five members saying “yes.”

Consultant Jason Miller told the council the study’s methodology shifts a larger share of infrastructure costs to commercial developers by revising how panel loading (diversified kilowatt usage) is calculated. “This would be an 89% proposed increase … for commercial businesses,” Miller said while walking through the study’s tables and county comparables. He also identified a proposed new per-kilowatt charge of $445 that underlies the revised fee schedule.

Miller said residential impact fees would be flat to have only negligible change, in part because Springville is largely built out and no major new system-wide capital projects for residential buildout are currently anticipated. He described how the study accounts for existing oversized equipment through a “buy-in” concept so new development pays only for growth-related capacity rather than pre-existing deficiencies.

The consultant and council members noted the study incorporated recent capital changes, including borrowing by a utility entity referenced in the meeting (noted as SUVPS borrowing of about $50,000,000), which increases projected infrastructure costs included in the study. Miller also said generation costs (replacement of legacy engines and ongoing generation funding) are not included in the impact fees and would be addressed separately through rates or future work sessions.

Councilors praised the Utility Board for taking extra meetings to analyze the plan and for providing a recommendation to move the proposal forward. During the board review, members discussed whether to phase increases over several years to limit competitive impacts; ultimately the board recommended implementing the full recommended change so more of the burden is placed on new commercial development rather than existing residential ratepayers.

The council opened a public hearing on the power impact fees; no public testimony was recorded during the hearing and a member moved to close the hearing. Later, a council member moved to approve Ordinance No. 12-2024 “approving the power impact fee study and proposed impact fee changes for new or upgraded connections to the Springville City Power System.” The motion was seconded and passed on a roll-call vote (Craig: yes; Mike: yes; Jake: yes; Logan: yes; Mindy: yes).

The ordinance’s approval directs staff to implement the adopted impact fee schedule subject to any future administrative steps required by city ordinance. Council members indicated generation, replacement of legacy engines and some fee categories (parks, sewer, stormwater, public safety) remain topics for further study and future agenda items.

Next steps noted in the presentation included follow-up work sessions to discuss generation planning and any remaining fee categories before broader implementation of the full schedule.