Fort Collins City Council approves 2027 utility rate increases on first reading

The Fort Collins City Council on Tuesday night gave initial approval to the city's 2027 utility rates, passing four ordinances that together would raise the average residential monthly utility bill by about 9 percent.

Each of the four ordinances — 168-2026 covering electric rates, 169-2026 covering water, 170-2026 covering wastewater, and 171-2026 covering stormwater — passed 7-0 on first reading.¹

According to the staff presentation, the average residential customer would see a combined increase of 9.3 percent, or $18.86 per month, across the four utilities. An example average commercial account, such as a small restaurant, would rise 8.7 percent, or about $116 per month. Staff told the council that Fort Collins utility bills sit at the low end of a regional comparison and would remain in the middle of that group even after the increases.¹

Capital projects drive most of the increase, staff said:¹

For electric, the wholesale cost of power is rising 7.5 percent next year, and the city plans increased cable and transformer replacement along with the Midtown substation project.
For water, a planned water storage project will require a significant rate increase to cover debt payments. Only the 2027 rates were up for adoption Tuesday; staff said the water fund rate will return to council next year, with firmer numbers on the storage project, before a 2028 rate is adopted.
For wastewater, about $150 million in projects are planned over the next three years, to be debt-financed — chiefly a preliminary treatment project at the Drake Water Reclamation Facility and a joint water-wastewater laboratory.
For stormwater, the plan funds collection system replacement and additional flood mitigation work.

Staff said the utility went through a full budget-reduction exercise to blunt the increase, and walked through the city's assistance programs. Enrollment is open now, through April, for an income-qualified reduced rate run in partnership with LEAP. A separate payment assistance fund offers one-time help to income-qualified customers facing disconnection, and the city is designing a Utilities Emergency Fund — potentially launching in January 2027 — that would carry no income limits and would be funded by donations. Options for restarting time-of-day and medical device rates are expected at a council finance committee session early next year.¹

No residents spoke on the item. Council members called the increases steep and said they did not take them lightly, but pointed to the summer's water main breaks and the cost of pushing maintenance into the future as reasons to support them. Several members highlighted the planned emergency fund as important for households that fall just outside income limits.¹

Staff said the rate proposal was developed through earlier council work sessions and finance committee reviews¹, including three biennial budget work sessions held Sept. 15, Sept. 22 and Oct. 13.²³⁴

This article was generated with assistance from AI models and was edited and reviewed by a human.