Gas, water, and electric price increases coming to Colorado Springs Utilities customers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - City council members have given the green light for a new utility rate hike from Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU).

It's a 3.3% increase to residential electric bills and a 5.49% increase to residential natural gas bills. That comes out to around an extra $8.71 per month for the average home.

The increases are based on what CSU expects to pay for fuel over the next few months as the colder weather sets in.

Customers will see the effect of this fuel rate hike beginning October 1st.

However, customers could pay around $25 more per month beginning in January. That's a historic amount if the utilities base rate proposal gets approved in the next 2 months.

It’s totally separate from the fuel rate increase that was approved by city leaders on Tuesday.

This hike would go to base rates and aims to pay for long-term infrastructure upgrades.

The company says it will cost $1.8 billion dollars in 2025 alone. Thats 21% higher than what they had budgeted for this year.

CSU also says they are facing historic energy demands and needs to add $3.7 billion dollars to their budget over the next 5 years; all to meet to meet regulations, support community growth, and maintain system reliability.

Customers would see base hikes of 6.5% for electric and water, 4% for natural gas, and 9% for wastewater for each year from 2025 to 2029.

If council this approves in November, customers would see an additional increase: another $14 per month starting in January.

However, it ramps up in increments. By the year 2029, projections show that an average household bill would be about $90 dollars higher than what customers are seeing right now.

A public hearing on the proposed base rate will be held by city council on October 22nd. A final vote on the matter is set for November 12th.