Bloomington’s water utility wants to increase customers’ monthly bills — but is not yet saying by how much.
The City of Bloomington Utilities said in a news release that it “has begun the process of adjusting its water rates” as part of a “broader effort to continue delivering reliable water service.”
CBU said the process would include public hearings, including one before the Bloomington City Council, and would require approval by state regulators. The city said it expects the new rates to hit customers’ bills in “mid-to-late 2026.”
The utility’s release included no estimate on how much more customers would be expected to pay.
CBU Communications Manager Daniel Frank said via email that the utility, as part of the settlement from a prior rate hike, “committed to gathering feedback from all involved parties before finalizing the proposed rates, and that process is still underway.” The last time CBU raised rates, Indiana University and the Washington Township Water Authority intervened in proceedings before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.
CBU’s release mentioned a cost of service study that the utility completed this year but provided no details. Frank did not immediately reply to a follow-up email that asked what CBU estimated its rate hike needed to be based on that cost-of-service study. He also did not provide a link to the study. The Herald-Times has filed a public records request to obtain the study.
CBU said in the release its proposal “reflects CBU’s commitment to ensuring the continued resilience of its infrastructure and its ability to keep pace with increasing maintenance and operation costs.”
“This proposal is about stewardship,” Thomson said in the release. “Access to clean, safe water — and the systems that carry it in, carry it away, and protect our environment in the process — is a public health responsibility.”
The number of water main breaks that force the utility to issue boil advisories has been creeping up in the last decade. In 2017, the utility reported a five-year average of 61 water mains per year. That number has increased into the mid-70s in the last three years. CBU recorded 94 water main breaks last year, the highest since at least 2013.
CBU officials also have said a fix for the perennial foul-smelling water in the fall — a problem caused by algae-growth in Lake Monroe — would cost millions of dollars.
CBU’s Capital Improvement Plan lists projects with a price tag of about $84 million, including nearly $19 million on a new building for CBU, another $19 million to replace aging water mains, $9 million in electrical upgrades and $14 million to upgrade booster stations and tanks “to ensure consistent water pressure and flow.”
The utility last hiked rates in early 2022. At the time, the utility said a typical consumer who uses about 3,000 gallons per month would see bills rise by about $1.09 a month. Customers currently pay $4.38 plus tax per 1,000 gallons plus additional flat monthly meter and fire protection rates, which differ depending on the meter size. You can find more details at bloomington.in.gov/utilities/rates.
CBU gets its water from Lake Monroe. The utility’s 20-year contract with the state to be allowed to withdraw from the lake up to 20 million gallons of water per day expired in January, but CBU has asked the state for a new 50-year contract that would allow the utility to withdraw up to 30 million gallons per day. Frank has said the state has accepted the proposal’s terms, but did not expect the state approval process to be completed until next year.
CBU this month also said the cost-of-service study “allowed CBU to more accurately determine each user’s impact on the water utility and use that information to distribute rates more fairly. This was accomplished using smart meter data to provide a more detailed, accurate picture of usage for each customer class, an approach that was requested during the most recent rate case.”
CBU did not answer emailed questions about whether that means CBU is shifting costs among users or, if so, what kinds of users and what criteria the utility is using to determine who should pay more or less.
Frank said the purpose of the release was primarily to inform the community about upcoming public meetings in which the rate hike would be discussed:
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington’s water utility plans to raise rates but won’t say yet by how much
Reporting by Boris Ladwig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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