Water Utility Rates

The Whitewater Municipal Water Utility (Utility) is regulated by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW).  Changes to water rates are subject to review and approval by the PSCW.

After five years of planning, the 2022-2023 Budget included the replacement of two of the Utility's three water reservoirs that were each >100 years old. The new water tower was completed in 2022 along with replacement of water mains under East Main Street and Yoder Lane. As forecast during the city's financial planning, these projects required an adjustment to water rates to help pay for this significant replacement of infrastructure. To begin the process, the Whitewater Municipal Water Utility filed an application with the PSCW on July 31, 2022 to review water rates. As part of this process, the PSCW completes a detailed cost analysis of the utility's capital and operating costs. PSCW staff then creates three reports during their review: 

  1. Revenue requirement - this determines the revenue required to maintain the utility in a fiscally responsible manner. The PSCW notified the Utility of the revenue requirement on November 21, 2022. This notice can be found here: 2022 Revenue Requirement Notice
  2. Cost of Service Study (COSS) - this determines the fixed and variable costs of the utility and attributes to differing customer classes and volume users. The PSCW notified the Utility of the COSS result on December 20, 2022. This notice can be found here: 2022 COSS - Rate Structure Notice
  3. Rate Design - this determines the rate structure that will equitably recover costs between fixed and volume charges across customer classes. The PSCW notified the Utility of the proposed rate design on December 20, 2022 along with the COSS (see #2 above)

With these three stages complete, a Public Hearing took place on January 26, 2023 at 2:00 pm. This hearing was to ensure utility customers had the opportunity to provide feedback to the PSCW before a final rate determination was made. Notice of Public Hearing can be found here; Public Hearing Notice - 2022 Water Utility Rate Case

The PSCW issued a final rate determination on February 15, 2023 that will take effect on April 28, 2023. The approved rate increase will provided an additional $687,000 in annual revenue to the Water Utility and produce a rate of return of 6.6%. This rate of return is used by the PSC to maintain confidence in the Utility’s financial integrity without resulting in rates to customers that are excessive. The 2022 change to water rates represented a $7.27 increase to the monthly bill for the average residential water customer using 3,000 gallons per month, including public fire protection charges.

Current Utility rates are summarized here

If you have any questions, please contact Whitewater Municipal Water Utility at (262) 473-1380.

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