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Aspen council approves modest water and electric rate increases for 2025
Summary
On Nov. 19 the council voted to adopt utility rate adjustments that raise water revenue by 5% and electric revenue by 5.25% for 2025; staff emphasized affordability programs and said increases address capital needs and inflationary pressures.
The Aspen City Council approved changes to the city’s utility rates on second reading, adopting staff’s proposed 5% revenue adjustment for water and a 5.25% adjustment for electric service for 2025. Justin Foreman, director of utilities, told council these modest increases are intended to keep both utilities financially viable and to cover capital and inflationary pressures.
Foreman said the utility aims to protect low‑usage residential customers: “For an example scale…this calculated out to be about $3 increase to a peak electric bill compared to the previous year’s bill on these smaller electric customers,” and staff highlighted discounts and assistance programs that help vulnerable customers. Council discussion focused on tap and community investment (ECI) fees: staff said ECI increases reflect higher capital and labor costs and that customers receive a dollar‑for‑dollar credit for prior capacity when upgrading service.
The council approved the ordinance on a roll call vote (4–1), with at least one councilor dissenting over concerns about tap fees and whether fee revenues should be collected via fees or broader revenue sources. Staff agreed to provide additional modeling and examples to clarify distributional impacts and the relationship between tap/ECI fees and capital projects.
What’s next: the rate changes take effect Jan. 1, 2025, and staff will return with additional modeling on tap/ECI fees in response to council requests.
