Caledonia, Franklin Protest Proposed Oak Creek Water Rate Increase

Franklin and Caledonia, both of which get water from the , are protesting the utility's proposed 31 percent wholesale rate increase, according to a story from the Racine Journal Times.

The proposed increase, which still needs approval from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, is being sought to help the utility pay for a $13 million treatment plant expansion completed in 2010, according to the newspaper.

The application was filed to the PSC in May and is subject to change.

While the increase is in the amount those two communities pay for water, Utility General Manager Steve Yttri said it does not mean a resident's water bill will go up that much. As proposed, a typical residential user's bill would go up $7.16 per quarter, and a small residential customer's bill would increase $3.87 per quarter, Yttri said in an e-mail.

The utility previously announced that its investments in technology during the last plant expansion will save rate-payers the equivalent of $10 million in the long term.