See how much EBR water prices are increasing - Greater Baton Rouge Business Report

See how much EBR water prices are increasing

The cost of tap water in East Baton Rouge Parish outside of the capital city went up this month, a few months after the water company raised prices inside the city.

The increase is meant to cover inflation, maintain infrastructure and support an emergency fund, a company official says, though a new rate structure could allow the prices to rise higher or come back down.

The Public Service Commission in May approved a 14.32% rate increase for Parish Water Company that went into effect this month. The average monthly increase is about $2.78 per customer, says Adrienne Mire, vice president with the company and two other affiliated local water providers.

Customers also will be charged a flat fee of $1.04 per month for 12 months that will go into an emergency reserve fund, which is a new concept for the water company, she says.

“It costs the company a lot of money to go through a hurricane or a freeze,” Mire says. “We keep the water flowing, and that’s because of the infrastructure that we have.”

An 11.38% increase went into effect in February for Baton Rouge Water Company customers for the same reasons. The hike was smaller inside the city because the cost of delivering the water is lower, she says.

The two water companies technically are separate but have the same parent company. Ascension Water Company, which also is under the same umbrella, does not currently plan to request a rate increase, Mire says.

Along with the rate increases, the PSC has approved a three-year formula rate plan. Rather than putting off a rate increase as long as possible and then requesting a hike, company officials will return to the PSC each year, at which point commissioners may approve an increase or not, or they may reduce the rate, she says.

“Going forward, I think it will even out,” Mire says.