BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto City Council has voted to raise utility rates by $32.70 a month for the average customer, or $392 per year.
The largest rate hikes are 10% for water and 20% for sewers starting July 1. Natural gas bills are going up by 5%, and electric bills are going up by 6% for the median customer.
Similar rate hikes are planned for the next four years, bringing the median bill from $404 today to $585 in 2030.
The city needs to raise rates to maintain infrastructure, comply with state and federal regulations and address rising costs of labor and materials, Utilities Director Alan Kurotori told council on June 16.
The city is also building back reserves that were depleted to keep rates lower during the pandemic, Kurotori said.
As if the $24,000,000 extra they legally charge us — aka overcharge us –per year to feed the General Fund isn’t enough or a one-time deal because they keep hiking rates each year and have already projected how much more it will cost us through 2030.
How nice that the city can keep wasting OUR money on consultants with no local knowledge to keep pitching recommendations that override what we and sometimes the City Council want.
Let’s just sunset natural gas in our city and be serious about climate change. We are falling well short of our climate goals. 2040? 2045? Let’s rip off the bandaid and DO IT.