Water bills will be going up for customers of Aqua Illinois Water Company, but the company’s Vermilion Area Manager – Bob Ervin – says the amount will not be as much as earlier reported. The Illinois Commerce Commission had sent out a news release stating that the average residential customer would pay $6.24 more per month, but that the impact on individual bills will vary – depending on the meter size and amount of water consumed.
Ervin says the average Danville/Vermilion Area customer can expect to pay $1.81 more per month…effective next Thursday, March 15th. Ervin says the rate hike will impact various areas of Illinois differently.
He also says the company is pleased with the ICC’s ruling….
The Illinois Commerce Commission issued its order on Wednesday approving approximately $6.549 million dollars in additional revenue for Aqua Illinois, Inc. for the delivery of water…and approximately $757-thousand dollars in additional revenue for sewer service. The increases are 37.9 percent less than what the company had requested for water and 48.1 percent less than what Aqua had requested for sewer service.
Ervin notes that since the company’s last rate hike request it has invested some $20-million dollars in capital improvements in Vermilion County…
In addition to Aqua’s rising cost of providing water and wastewater service in Illinois, the Commission took into consideration the company’s need to repair and replace aging infrastructure throughout its service territory.