If you wish to make a comment about the proposed rate increases, but you are unable to attend the hearing and wish to submit your comments via email, we recommend that you email your comments directly to the BWL Board of Commissioners. Unfortunately, it is a multistep process. We will walk you through it.

Step 1: Write your comments in a text editor such as Word or Google Docs or use the letter below. If you choose to use our letter, it would carry more weight if you customize it with examples, anecdotes, or comments in your own words.

Step 2: Copy your message from your text editor. For Windows users, this is usually done by highlighting the text and pressing CTRL-C.

Step 3: Using your browser, go to https://www.lbwl.com/about-bwl/governance/email-bwl-commissioners

Step 4: In the "Select A Commissioner:" pull down menu, click the downward arrow on the right and select "All Commissioners".

Step 5: Enter your name and address in the appropriate boxes.

Step 6: Scroll down until you find the "Message" box. Place your cursor inside the box and paste the text that you previously copied. In Windows, this is usually done by pressing CTRL-V. The message box will expand as your enter your text.

Step 7: Review your message to make sure it is correctly formatted.

Step 8: When you are satisfied with your message, complete the CAPTCHA and press SUBMIT.

Step 9: Feel good that you took action on this important issue!

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SAMPLE LETTER

Dear BWL Commissioner:
I am writing today to ask you to reject the large rate increases for water and electricity that have been proposed by BWL management.

BWL has provided almost no justification for the increases, 7 percent for electricity and 9 percent for water, first in October 2024 and again in October 2025. With this lack of information, we rate-payers have no knowledge of how the money raised by the increases will be used. Because these rate increases happen in each of the next two years, BWL will have almost $75 million more revenue by the end of the second year. We believe you owe your customers an explanation about the ways this new revenue will be used.

During the presentation at the Finance Committee meeting in July, there were verbal comments about the need for additional revenue to pay for the Clean Energy Plan and meet increased costs due to inflation. I find both rationales problematic.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the inflation rate for energy from June 2023 to June 2024 was one percent, far less than the 7 percent that BWL is proposing. It was stated at the July Finance Committee meeting that the much higher increase was due to past inflation, during the years that BWL kept prices below the rate of inflation. If that were the case, I would expect to see an impact on BWL’s bottom line. But there is no evidence that BWL is suffering because expenses are rising. At the end of FY2023, BWL’s revenue over expense was more than $15 million. At the of FY2022, it was almost $12 million. It does not appear to me that inflation is a reasonable explanation for the size of this increase.

It was further stated at the July Finance Committee meeting that BWL needed additional revenue to fund their Clean Energy Plan. However, it is unclear which projects BWL considers as part of its clean energy plan. BWL’s General Manager said verbally at an LBWL Board meeting that the gas plant is not clean energy and will longer be part of the plan. But a document presented at the same meeting continued to list the plant as part of the Clean Energy Plan, and the plant’s construction is apparently proceeding. At $170 million, the plant accounted for more than 50 percent of the $300 million-plus cost of the projects planned thus far in the Clean Energy Plan. With the gas plant no longer in the plan, it is not clear why such a large rate increase is needed for a much smaller expenditure on renewable energy projects. Rather it appears that the LBWL is asking rate-payers to foot the bill for the fossil-fuel plant.

I am also very concerned about the 9 percent increase in water rates. With almost 25 percent of Lansing’s residents and 35 percent of children under 18 living below the poverty line, water insecurity is a very real issue in our community. Access to clean, safe, and affordable water is a fundamental right, not a privilege that is extended only to those who can afford it.

Combined with 5 to 6 percent annual increases in sewer rates, I am worried that disadvantaged, under-employed, and unemployed individuals will be forced to make risky trade-offs as they consider such key expenses as medicines, electricity, water, and food as they struggle to provide for their families when their income is limited. Associated late payment penalties or shut-off fees combined with these expenses only make the problem worse. At the very least, BWL should implement a no-shutoff policy for water, especially given the scale of these increases.

I strongly urge you to vote against the large rate increases that BWL management has proposed.
Sincerely,



 

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