Bangor looks to rate increases for infrastructure upgrades
The $60 million price tag needed to replace nearly 30% of the 200 miles of pipe delivering water to homes and businesses in Bangor has the city’s Water District looking to increase its rate for the first time since 2011.
“To replace this today would cost $60 million, so that’s an enormous problem,” Kathy Moriarty, Bangor Water District’s general manager, told city councilors on Monday, according to the Bangor Daily News.
The bump wanted by the district would raise rates by 4.5% effective July 1. For average residential customers that would mean a bump in rates of 88 cents per month, or $20.34 in their total monthly bill. For customers that pay the minimum bill, rates would increase 55 cents per month, or about $12.70 for their total monthly bill.
Even with the rate increase, Moriarty told city councilors that Bangor’s water bills are still among the lowest of the 152 water utilities in Maine. Bangor is the 20th cheapest.
This summer will be particularly busy for the Bangor Water District, with projects including the replacement of 2,000 feet of pipe running underneath Hammond Street in downtown Bangor in April in addition to replacing 2,200 feet on Union Street.
The water district will host a public hearing on the proposed rate increase in May, in City Council chambers. After that, the district expects to request approval for the rate increase from the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
Read more
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