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11.30.07 Omahans are facing another big utility bill M.U.D. says replacing gas and water mains may cost $1 billion; that’s on top of a $1.5 billion city sewer project. Omaha-area residents reeling from the pro jected $1.5 billion tab to fix the city’s sewer system might want to sit down. The Metropolitan Utilities District faces hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to improve its natural gas and water system, and a $1 billion price tag is possible. Natural gas and water bills would begin rising in January to pay for the work, assuming the M.U.D. board approves the plan next week. So far, the utility is saying only that the first five years of work would cost about $112 million. Beyond, that, no cost estimates are available, said M.U.D. President Tom Wurtz. However, asked if $1 billion in costs was possible, Wurtz said yes. “It’s possible,” he said. “The numbers are the numbers.” The utility and the city plan to work in tandem. M.U.D. will replace gas and water mains wherever the city tears up streets to fix sewers. Wurtz said that in addition to the work that M.U.D. does with the city, the utility probably will have to replace all 580 miles of its cast-iron gas mains. Those cost about $1 million a mile to replace, and the federal government is expected to require utilities to do so, he said. It’s not known, he said, over how many years the utility would spread that work. No similar requirement to replace water mains is expected, but the utility believes it will have to replace some portion of its 1,280 miles of water mains. Those also cost about $1 million a mile. Longtime M.U.D. board member Jack Frost said the projects are necessary. “I’m a little uncomfortable that it (affects) everybody, even poor people,” he said. “I don’t know what else to do.” To pay for the work, M.U.D. proposes creating two new improvement fees, one for natural gas and one for water. In 2008, those fees would total $5 a month for residential customers. The new water fee is projected to start at $2 a month, jump to $3 in 2009 and then $4 in 2012. The gas fee could begin at $3 a month and remain there for at least the first five years of the work. The utility also is proposing a 5 percent increase in water rates to pay for its nearly completed $352 million water treatment plant and well field on the western side of its territory. M.U.D. bills also are rising because of increases that the City of Omaha is making in its sewer use fees to cover the needed improvements to the sewer system. The city's sewer fees are included in M.U.D. bills, and the city has approved annual 9 percent fee increases through 2010 to pay for its improvements. After that, additional increases are expected, so monthly sewer bills could reach $50 by 2017. The M.U.D. board will vote Wednesday on whether to approve its 2008 water and gas fees. A public hearing on the issue accompanies that meeting. Like Frost, board members John McCollister and Mary Kay Begley said the projects make sense. "I'm anxious to get more information," McCollister said. "No matter how you cut it, the city's sewer separation project is going to affect M.U.D. It makes obvious good sense to replace the mains when the streets are torn up to fix the sewers." How high the M.U.D. fees could climb isn’t known. Wurtz said M.U.D. will have better cost estimates in 12 to 18 months. That’s when the city will have better-determined the magnitude of its plan for tearing up streets and replacing sewers. M.U.D.’s oldest natural gas and water mains date to the 1880s. Wurtz said he also wanted to make it clear that M.U.D. considers its network of natural gas mains to be safe. Any problem pipes that the utility knows about are being replaced, he said. Omaha-area residents can expect to see ongoing increases in their sewer, water and possi bly natural gas rates. The city’s efforts are driven by the federal Clean Water Act, which is requiring that Omaha and hundreds of other cities sharply reduce the release of sewage into local waterways. |
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