SPRINGFIELD, Missouri (Edited Press Release/KY3) – The Public Utilities Board of Directors has approved the Springfield Public Utilities’ fiscal year 2025 operating budget.
The approved budget will go before the City Council for its first reading on Monday, Sept. 9. CU leaders say the City Council will receive requests from the Board of Public Utilities to approve a three-year increase in natural gas prices to cover the rising capital, operating and material costs of the natural gas system, as well as to approve a fare reduction for bus transportation.
If approved, the requested series of natural gas price adjustments would begin on October 1, 2025, with a 2.5% price adjustment and additional 3.9% adjustments in October 2026 and 2027. With the October 2025 increase, customers would see a monthly natural gas bill increase of $1.65 based on average residential usage. With all of the increases, the additional cost to residential customers is estimated to be approximately $7.40 monthly. Nationally, among peer cities of similar size, CU has the second lowest monthly cost for residential natural gas customers. The last natural gas price adjustment occurred in 2019.
Another item approved by the board and set to go before the City Council in September is a fare reduction for the CU bus system. After a comprehensive study to optimize public transit, CU has recommended a 20% fare reduction to further improve the affordability of the transit system. The fare for a single adult ride would be $1.00 (instead of $1.25). All other discounted pass and ticket options will also be reduced by the same amount. Transfer fees will increase from 10 cents to 25 cents. If approved by the City Council, these new fares will go into effect on October 1, 2024.
“The reliability and integrity of each service we provide is funded separately, and like other companies, we have seen supply chain and inflation issues impact every part of the utility,” said Gary Gibson, president and CEO of City Utilities. “We must make these adjustments to continue to provide exceptional service and reliability to our community.”
The approved budget sets the utility’s disbursement authority at $895,437,000. This includes $55 million in contingency funds that could be available in the event of fluctuations in business and fuel prices, and $200 million in contingency funds for future power needs. Use of contingency funds would require additional approval by the public utility board.
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