Capital Region Water repairs a sewer line (file photo).
The average Harrisburg water and sewer customer will pay a few dollars more a month in 2022, as Capital Region Water approved new rates for next year.
Last week, CRW passed its 2022 budget, which includes a 3% increase for drinking water and a 4% hike for wastewater service.
Under the new rate structure, drinking water rates will rise from $10.04 to $10.34 per 1,000 gallons. Wastewater rates will increase from $8.23 to $8.56 per 1,000 gallons.
According to CRW, the average Harrisburg customer who consumes 45,000 gallons of water annually will pay about $2.60 more per month.
The stormwater fee, first imposed in 2020, will remain the same at $6.15 per month for most residential customers.
“At Capital Region Water, we are focused on finding equitable and creative ways to repair aging infrastructure, reduce combined sewer overflows, address localized flooding and runoff, and meet state and federal clean water requirements,” said CEO Charlotte Katzenmoyer, in a statement. “It’s a testament to our leadership that we’ve been able to keep rates predictable each year we present our proposal.”
Last year, CRW increased its drinking water rate by 2% and its wastewater rate by 3% compared to 2019.
CRW also stated that it is targeting two sources of new federal funding to help pay for improvements to the city’s aged, combined sewer infrastructure.
First, it expects to pursue some of the $1.4 billion that Pennsylvania will receive for water projects under the recently passed federal infrastructure bill. It also hopes to receive some of Harrisburg’s $48 million allocation under the American Rescue Plan Act, approved by Congress in March.
“With water and sewer infrastructure projects as an eligible use of funds, investments to reduce pollution just make environmental and financial sense,” said CRW board Chair Marc Kurowski, in a statement.
CRW is under a preliminary agreement with the federal government to slash pollutants that flow into area waterways, including some 800 million gallons of raw sewage mixed with stormwater that enters the Susquehanna River each year. To do so, it plans to spend about $315 million for system improvements and for green infrastructure, which captures stormwater before it enters the sewer system.
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