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Falls City hears rate study and approves multiple utility ordinances
Summary
Consultant John Kraske presented a multiyear utility rate study recommending steady increases and an infrastructure fee; the council moved quickly to final readings and approved ordinances to restate electric, natural gas, water and sewer rates. The study and ordinances were framed as necessary to fund capital and reliability projects.
John Kraske, president of JP Energy Consulting, told the Falls City Council on Aug. 19 that steady, multiyear rate adjustments are preferable to large one‑time increases and are needed to fund planned capital projects and improve long‑term reliability.
Kraske recommended a 4% annual increase for electric rates over each of the next three years (divided as a 2% infrastructure fee and a 2% rate increase), a 6% annual increase for water (with a 4% infrastructure fee), and smaller multiyear increases for wastewater and gas. He also proposed changing the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) from a one‑month calculation to a six‑month rolling average to smooth sudden price spikes. “I think there’s a good reasons for it,” Kraske said, urging the council that steady, smaller increases help avoid deferred capital work that would necessitate larger increases later.
The consultant identified capital drivers including a recently approved transmission line project and ongoing local distribution work. He said the infrastructure fee collections would be segregated in the fund and used only for capital and related debt on capital projects.
Council members and attendees pressed for clearer public outreach. One council member said residents rarely attend rate briefings, then react on social media once bills rise; another urged the Public Works Committee to help educate the community before any increases take effect.
Following the presentation the council advanced several ordinances through suspension of the rules and final readings: ordinance 2025‑101 (electric rates), 2025‑102 (natural gas rates), 2025‑103 (water rates, amended to include a 2023 rural water district rates reference), and 2025‑104 (sewer rates). The clerk recorded supermajority votes to suspend the rules and move to final reading; recorded tallies reported in the meeting were consistent with passage (clerk announced supermajority approvals and subsequent final readings).
The ordinance package restates base costs, PCA methodology and rate structures for each utility and provides for publication of the ordinances in pamphlet form and an effective date. Council members emphasized that the rate changes are intended to cover capital projects and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements rather than to address a short‑term operating deficit.
What happens next: the ordinances were read and advanced to final adoption during the Aug. 19 meeting; staff indicated fee collections and capital planning will be tracked and included in future rate studies and budget work.
