Saint John Water customers facing higher bills, metering system

Nipun Tiwari · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 11:15 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Saint John Water got support Monday for a semipermanent program that includes yearly complaint increases of 1 past 2 per cent and, successful 2028, the beginnings of a metering system.

City assembly approved the 10-year fiscal strategy arsenic the city-owned inferior tries to deal with a $370 million infrastructure shortage and different fiscal challenges, portion besides keeping rates affordable for consumers. 

The h2o and wastewater complaint per household has been a level $1,428 a twelvemonth since 2019, and metropolis unit accidental the inferior needs much wealth if it's going to hole oregon regenerate its aging infrastucture.

City unit estimate 11 per cent of Saint John Water infrastructure — such arsenic buildings and instrumentality needed to treat, store and deliver water services — is successful mediocre oregon precise mediocre condition.

Parts of the sewer strategy day backmost to the precocious 1800s, including terra cotta sewers that were installed successful 1872 successful the cardinal peninsula.

"We person immoderate of the oldest pipes successful North America underground feeding our h2o system," said Coun. Sullivan, seat of the city's concern committee, which recommended the fiscal program to council. 

"So we request to marque definite that we've got plans connected however we regenerate them responsibly, making definite that our infrastructure is looked after, and making definite there's nary complaint daze down the road."

A unit study says the inferior needs up to $35 cardinal a twelvemonth successful further backing from the city, connected apical of existent yearly backing of $10 cardinal to $15 million.

The unit study says h2o rates haven't gone up since 2019, dissimilar the utility's costs.

Saint John is 1 of the fewer municipalities successful the state that usage a level complaint billing structure, meaning each customers wage the aforesaid magnitude careless of however overmuch h2o they use.

The inferior won't beryllium raising rates successful 2025, but they'll spell up one per cent a twelvemonth successful 2026 and 2027. The adjacent year, the inferior volition rise rates 2 per cent, to $1,486.

Two per cent increases would proceed until Saint John Water has a new billing structure.

Moving distant from level rate 

The inferior wants to change its level complaint strategy done cosmopolitan metering. 

A metering strategy would marque h2o much affordable to a larger radical of households, the unit study said. 

"The determination to cosmopolitan metering volition let amended organisation of costs betwixt ratepayers, arsenic charges volition beryllium based connected h2o consumption, alternatively than having each ratepayers wage the aforesaid magnitude careless of consumption."

There are besides plans to analyse usage of a "lifeline rate" — a discounted rate "deemed to beryllium affordable" for h2o a ratepayer would usage to conscionable their basal h2o needs.

A study of h2o metering volition done to find rates successful 2026, with implementation plans for metering successful 2028. The inferior hopes meters volition beryllium utilized by astir customers by 2031.