City-owned power companies will see a significant increase in rates next October if the Western Area Power Association wins approval for a 35 percent rate hike on power delivered from the Colorado River Storage Project.
The increase would affect about 74 cities in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico as well as a number of rural cooperatives. The increase would also affect federal installations such as Hill Air Force Base, the Tooele Army Depot and Defense Depot Ogden as well as state facilities such as the University of Utah and Utah State University that have firm contracts with WAPA.Lloyd Greiner, WAPA district manager for the Salt Lake area, said the increase is necessary to cover increasing operations and maintenance costs, to pay for transmission system improvements and to meet repayment obligations involving participating projects, especially those affiliated with the Central Utah Project.
WAPA will hold a public information meeting at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 21 in the Red Lion Inn in Salt Lake.
A formal public hearing to receive testimony and written comments is set for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 25, also in the Red Lion Inn.