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Whitefish Bay board authorizes PSC conventional water-rate filing after consultants project large increase
Summary
The Village Board authorized staff to file a conventional Public Service Commission rate case after consultants presented a pre-filed model that showed a projected 28.03% increase in base water rates in the test year, noting the process could take many months and that affordability remains below PSC benchmarks over the planning period.
The Whitefish Bay Village Board voted April 20 to authorize staff to submit a conventional water-rate application to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Municipal advisers from Ellers presented the application analysis and recommended filing after explaining the PSC’s test-year approach, adjustments and timeline.
Kayla Thorp, municipal adviser, told the board the PSC test-year 2026 application in the packet "kind of flush[es] out a 28.03% increase to base user rates right now." She said that difference between the village’s internal cash accounting and PSC utility accounting—principally the PSC-required inclusion of depreciation and a benchmark rate of return—accounts for much of the change compared with internal projections. Thorp noted the PSC’s benchmark rate of return increased in the last year and that the PSC process can alter final results during review.
Staff presented a water-impact analysis showing the projected 2027 increase would raise the annual bill for an average user (100 cubic feet per quarter) by about the figure shown in the packet (presented as roughly $91.74 annual change under the modeled 28.03% adjustment). The advisers emphasized a multi-stage timeline: the village could expect months of PSC review and data requests, a public hearing scheduled several months after filing, and implementation typically six to nine months after the filing — if the PSC approves the requested changes.
Board members pressed staff on messaging and timing; advisers encouraged early public outreach and suggested using simplified 3% annual adjustments when appropriate to reduce the magnitude of a later conventional filing, but noted that simplified changes cannot fully eliminate the need for a conventional filing given the scope of capital needs. The board moved and approved authorization to submit the PSC conventional rate-case application by voice vote.
