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Bangor Water District seeks 10.5% rate increase as billing, repairs strain system
Summary
The Bangor Water District told the council it has filed a 10.5% rate increase with the Maine PUC to bolster capital reserves, cover inflation and cybersecurity costs, and pay for frequent main repairs; the district and the city also discussed a recent billing-software migration that failed to interoperate with the city’s sewer billing, prompting questions about who will pay the extra costs.
Chuck Harris, speaking for the Bangor Water District, told the Bangor City Council the district submitted a 10.5% rate increase to the Maine Public Utilities Commission to strengthen capital funds, cover rising energy and cybersecurity costs, and address operational inflation. "The increase that we have submitted to the PUC is a 10.5% increase," Harris said, and he said the proposal would raise the district’s minimum quarterly bill by $6.84 to $71.95 and move monthly bills roughly into the $20–$24 range. Harris said, if approved by the PUC, the rate would take effect on 04/01/2026.
Why the increase: Harris cited higher energy costs, cost-of-living adjustments, cybersecurity investments and capital projects as primary drivers. He said the district is trying to grow a capital reserve to replace aging mains and complete coordinated projects with the city—citing Cumberland Street mains installed in 1898 as an example that needs replacement. Harris said certain projects (Nelson and Birch) have engineering nearly complete and are on a State Revolving Fund (SRF) list, but federal budget timing creates funding risk.
System performance and maintenance: Harris said 2025 was a difficult year for the system, with 73 main breaks recorded that year. The district reported 167 valve box renewals, 17 hydrant replacements and 325 service-box renewals in 2025. He also described a newly completed large standpipe—more than 100 feet tall—built locally and the district’s investment in valves and hydrants to reduce outage size and duration.
Billing-software migration and city interoperability: Councilors pressed Harris about a recent billing-software swap whose file failed to port to the city’s sewer-billing system. An unidentified council member asked who would pay the extra city costs caused by the failed integration; Harris said the city had picked up the immediate extra work to correct live-billing issues but described tests that had appeared to succeed before the live migration failed. The exchange focused on vendor responsibility, the RFP or contract expectations, and whether the district communicated file-parameter changes to the city during procurement. Harris said staff had meetings and provided a test file but the live transfer did not work as anticipated.
Customer communications and quality: Harris said the new software has improved outage notifications with targeted robocalls, texts and emails, reducing the need for door-to-door notices during main breaks. He described the annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) as showing the district meets or exceeds EPA drinking-water requirements and noted the district owns roughly 98% of its watershed, restricting public access to protect source water.
What’s next: The district has filed the case with the PUC; councilors asked for a breakdown of the proposed increase between salaries, operations and capital but Harris said the PUC filing contains the financial detail and that he did not have a full line-item salary breakdown in the meeting. Councilors also asked staff to follow up on the billing-file integration and vendor responsibility. No formal council vote or motion occurred on the rate filing during the workshop.
