The City Council on Tuesday unanimously cast its first vote to approve a $1.8 billion 2025 budget for Colorado Springs Utilities.
The 2025 spending plan is 21% more than the approved 2024 budget and will feature base-rate increases for five years, plus a new time-of-day rate officials said could save residents money on their bills.
Residential customers can expect to pay on average $14 more each month next year for water, wastewater, natural gas and electric services. A sample service bill Utilities officials presented Tuesday shows the average residential customer can expect to see see their utilities costs increase from about $255 a month currently to about $269 a month beginning Jan. 1, or an increase of 5.5%.
Monthly costs increase every year, up to an average of about $334 a month by 2029 for residential customers, the sample bill showed.
Regulatory requirements, system reliability needs and community growth are driving the increased costs from 2025 through 2029, Utilities Pricing and Rates Manager Scott Shirola repeated Tuesday.
Despite the increased budget, the 2025 spending plan keeps rates competitive. Colorado Springs Utilities ratepayers pay about 10% less for services than other ratepayers on the Front Range, and about 17% less than the national average, Shirola said.
Utilities plans to add roughly $3.9 billion in additional infrastructure over the next five years to meet requirements such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2030; make system improvements or bring new equipment online to reliably operate the existing system; and increase capacity to support population or system growth, Shirola said.
Capital projects make up almost 34% of the agency’s 2025 spending plan.
The council agreed to implement recommended base-rate increases by about 6.6% for all four utility services each year from 2025 through 2029. Utilities will increase base rates by 6.5% for electric and water services, 4% for natural gas and 9% for wastewater each year during the next five years.
The agency typically updates its base rates annually; they pay for the pipes, wires and plants that provide utility services and are based on the cost of serving customers.
For 2025, the agency requested approval to set base rates for five years to help pay for current and planned capital projects.
Some major projects include a massive $396 million project that will expand Utilities’ eastern wastewater system to support continued growth on Colorado Springs’ east side. When complete, the newly expanded system will serve up to 225,000 residents.
Another $646 million project will generate 1,700 megawatts of new natural gas and renewable energy generation, plus battery storage, to support regulations to reduce carbon emissions.
Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Johnna Reeder-Kleymeyer supported Utilities’ 2025 budget. During public comment, she said the increased rates are imperative for Utilities to help keep its system up to date and well-maintained. A robust system will attract new businesses who want to operate or expand in Colorado Springs, she said.
Barry Baum, an engineer who has done volunteer consulting for the city for 16 years, and Kevin Smith, representing the U.S. Department of Defense, both urged the council to set its base rates only for 2025 and 2026. They worried Utilities could be asking now to set rates that may not accurately reflect actual costs in three or four years’ time.
The military commented on Utilities’ 2025 budget Tuesday because the municipal agency provides services to four local installations: Peterson Space Force Base, Fort Carson, the U.S. Air Force Academy and Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station.
“Too much can, and will, change over the next five years. In my opinion, projected growth and consumption will slow down exponentially with the projected annual rate increases,” Baum said.
Utilities Chief Planning and Finance Officer Tristan Gearhart said the five-year rate case is “the most responsible way” the agency can fund and construct critical, needed infrastructure. Some projects are expensive enough that Utilities cannot start work for one or two years, then stop and ask the council for more funding.
“We really feel it is best, given the circumstances we’re trying to take care of in a very tight, five-year window that we have, to spread those costs out,” he said.
On Tuesday the council also supported a new “energy-wise,” or time-of-day rate, which will allow customers to pay different rates for electricity based on the time of day they are using it.
This gives customers more control over their bills and customers could see some savings, among other benefits, Shirola said.
“There will be a substantial number of citizens who, without changing anything, will see their electric bills go down,” Councilman Dave Donelson said in support.
It is most expensive for Utilities to deliver energy between the hours of 5 and 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, when most customers are using it.
With the new energy-wise rate, Shirola said electricity will be cheaper on weekdays before 5 p.m. and after 9 p.m., and on weekends and holidays. Rates will be higher in the summer, when demand is highest, and lowest in the winter.
The new energy-wise rate will go into effect in phases, beginning in October next year. It will become the standard for most customers by the end of 2025. Customers can choose to opt out and instead pay a fixed seasonal rate for electricity, Shirola said.
The council will vote a second time to affirm the Utilities budget on Nov. 12.
The new rate changes will go into effect Jan. 1 for base rates and Oct. 1, 2025, for energy-wise rates.