Nelson residents will see utility rate hikes across the board this year, as city council signs off on increased fees for water, sewer and hydro.
Water rates will increase by nine per cent, and sewer rates by seven per cent. Nelson Hydro rates will go up by 9.6 per cent — the higher of the two rate increases the utility had asked for during earlier budget deliberations.
According to a city staff report, residents in a single family home will pay an extra $35 for water and an extra $25 for sewer with the new fees. The hydro increase will see residential customers pay about 7.89 cents per kilowatt hour, up from 7.25.
All three utilities are facing substantial upgrading costs, and Nelson Hydro is dealing with a 12.6 per cent hike in the price of wholesale power it buys from FortisBC.
Several city councillors tried to soften the blow of the increases as they passed them.
“I know 9.6 is an ouch, but not when you’re looking at the wide world out there,” said Councillor Marg Stacey, adding the city’s hydro rates are still lower than those in neighboring municipalities.
But while she supported the hydro increase, Councillor Kim Charlesworth voted against both the water and sewer hikes, saying she didn’t think the new rates were “fair” to the city’s commercial users.
Charlesworth says the city’s commercial rate structure — based on factors such as the type of business being operated and the number of fixtures in a building — “was fair and equitable when it was first developed, but a lot has changed and it really isn’t any more.”
Though staff has already started looking for ways to improve the system, Charlesworth says the information they’ve collected didn’t make its way into this year’s rate changes.
“I just feel we could have done a little bit more this year than they are doing,” she told council.
Billing for water and sewer begins in early February, while the new Nelson Hydro rates will come into effect April 1.