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Consultant outlines staged water-rate increases tied to $20M treatment plant
Summary
Henry Solutions presented a three-step water-rate strategy to align public-fire-protection charges with Public Utilities Commission rules and to fund a $20 million Branch Lake treatment plant; the plan includes modest near-term increases and staged adjustments to the city’s fire-protection allocation.
Nick Henry, the consultant retained by the city, told the Ellsworth City Council that the city’s Public Utilities Commission formula currently calls for the city’s public fire protection charge to be set at 30% of the water utility’s revenue requirement. “When we walk through that calculation today for Ellsworth, it’s 30%,” Henry said.
Henry described a three-step approach intended to spread the financial impact of a new Branch Lake treatment plant and to reset the fire-protection percentage without a single large increase. He recommended a 1.5% filing effective March 1, 2026, followed by a 7% overall revenue increase on July 1, 2026 (which would shift roughly a 5% increase to metered customers and about an 11% increase to public fire protection), and additional adjustments as the treatment plant debt service comes online.
City Manager Charlie and councilors asked questions about how the public-fire-protection charge is used and how customers would be notified. Henry said the public-fire funds flow into the city’s general fund for water-department-related costs — salaries, electricity, materials and insurance — and that the city will file required documents with the PUC, send customer notice by letter and newspaper, and hold a public hearing in the PUC process. “Customers will have ample time to weigh in,” he said, noting customers may petition the PUC if they wish.
Henry and staff emphasized the plan is procedural — filing with the PUC and a public-notice and hearing process are required — and that the recommendation aims to avoid a sudden, large increase in any single year as the treatment plant’s debt service begins.
The presentation was informational; the council took no final rate action at the meeting.
