City Council has approved electric and natural gas base rate changes to fund regulatory, safety and reliability requirements. The changes will increase the typical commercial customer utilities bill by 1.8 percent and the typical industrial customer bill by 1.0 percent effective Jan. 1, 2012. View Chief Planning & Finance Officer Bill Cherrier's Nov. 12 presentation on 2012 Business Rates.

See the entire 2012 Rate Case Filing (595-page PDF)

The table below provides examples of bill amounts reflecting the approved rates effective Jan. 1, 2012. Keep in mind that no business is exactly "typical"; your energy and water usage, and therefore your bill amount, will likely be higher or lower.

Typical commercial customer bill amounts

Based on Electric: 6,000 kWh, Natural Gas: 1,240 CCF, Water: 3,000 CF, Wastewater: 3,000 CF
**Water rate change was approved in May 2010.

Typical industrial customer bill amounts

Based on Electric: 1,000 kW on-peak demand, 84,800 kWh on-peak and 315,200 kWh off-peak consumption;
Natural Gas: 12,400 CCF; Water: 50,000 CF; Wastewater: 50,000 CF
**Water rate change was approved in May 2010.

Use our bill calculator to see how the rate changes will affect your utilities bill.

What's driving the 2012 budget and rates?
The primary rate driver for 2012 is our increased need for capital investments to comply with new environmental regulations, maintain our existing pipes, plants and wires, and build new infrastructure for our community's future.

• New environmental and reliability mandates
  Federal and state regulations require us to install emissions control equipment at our coal-fired power plants by 2016. The cost using conventional emissions scrubbers would be more than $300 million. Additional investments are required to comply with more stringent NERC ( North American Reliability Corporation) reliability guidelines
• Maintaining an aging utilities system
  Many of our community's pipes, plants and wires are nearing the end of their useful lives and must be replaced or overhauled. Without continued expenditures on maintenance, the reliable energy and water service you've come to expect would not be possible.
• SDS: Investing in our community's future
  The Southern Delivery System will benefit all water customers and is critical for our community's future. The State demographer projects the population of El Paso County to increase 1.9% each year over the next 30 years - or from 622,565 people in 2010 to 981,394 by 2040. Our population will increase through infill, increased density or other development. There are approx. 22,000 acres of undeveloped land in Colorado Springs aside from the 18,000 acres of Banning Lewis Ranch land that are in question. SDS will also provide a backup to our existing aging water delivery system and help protect our community from drought.
• Fuel costs
  Coal, natural gas and purchased power costs are projected to rise in 2012. Changes to fuel costs, up or down, are passed along to customers, dollar-for-dollar.

What we're doing to control costs

• Reducing payments to third party power providers
  The recent purchase of the Front Range Power Plant enables us to generate more of our own power and eliminate power capacity payments to the previous owners. The savings are being passed along to customers through reduced electric capacity payments.
• Using new technologies
  We're installing new emissions control technology at the Drake Power Plant. Developed by a local company, the new equipment reduces sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 90 percent. The new device will reduce the cost of complying with new environmental regulations. We need to begin investing in this technology in 2012 to be in full compliance when the new regulations are in place.
• Prioritizing critical projects
  Projects are prioritized based on their impact to system reliability and the safety of our customers and employees. We are only doing work that's absolutely necessary.