Possible Hike in Water & Electric Bills for Carthage Residents
By: Katie Love
Updated: May 9, 2012
New environmental protection agency requirements will cost the Carthage Water and Electric plant $24 million in upgrades.
Company representatives say these new expenses mean they will need to charge customers more.
They will present a proposal to city council tonight to increase household bills by about 11.8%.
The increase will cost customers approximately $15 more each month.
It's a change, plant employees say is unavoidable.
"We're happy the environments becoming cleaner," Carthage Water and Electric Chuck Bryant says. "We're happy that things are moving towards that process, but we do realize and I think everyone's going to realize, it does cost money to get those things done."
"This is coming at a cost of billions of dollars to power plants," Carthage Water and Electric Chuck Nuse says. "It's just not Carthage that's going to be affected its the country as a whole."
City council will vote on Carthage Water and Electric's new rate proposal in two weeks.If approved, the increase will go into effect this July.
