Utility director outlines $12 million local benefit of Coldwater’s publicly owned utility and major infrastructure projects

Utility Director Rudy Veil presented a multi-part "value to citizens" analysis showing how Coldwater’s publicly owned utility returns economic and service benefits to the community and outlined near-term infrastructure projects.

Veil described the utility’s electric, water, wastewater and telecommunications assets: transmission and distribution lines, multiple substations, a 1.8 MW solar field, diesel and natural-gas generation assets, roughly 117 miles of water main and processing of roughly 3–3.5 million gallons per day of water and wastewater. He said the utility’s combined budgets total roughly $60 million annually.

On reliability and rates, Veil compared local outage metrics with investor-owned utilities. Using an interruption-cost calculator developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (the ICE calculator), he said Coldwater’s averages produce a lower customer impact versus nearby investor-owned systems; for example, he reported the average customer savings at $221 in 2022 and $252 in 2023 in the analysis presented. Veil also reported that the utility’s general fund distribution per the city charter is about $3.7 million for FY24 and that shared services produce roughly $800,000 in cost savings year-over-year. He estimated total local economic benefits from the utility at a little under $12 million annually.

Project and grant details included a three-year DWSRF lead-service-line grant for $3,000,000 (presenter said 50% will be the utility’s share and 50% will be paid back), and an ongoing wastewater expansion project estimated at $30–$35 million with engineering and bidding planned to enable bonding and construction next year. Veil also reported 600-ish remaining lead service lines to be addressed and that phase 1 of the wastewater plant reconstruction would begin near the end of the month.

Veil noted the utility operates about 132 miles of fiber and serves over 2,200 internet customers; he said the utility intends to shift remaining cable customers to fiber. Personnel and community updates followed, including staff changes and community events.

The board did not vote on the value presentation; questions were limited to clarifications. Staff will proceed with scheduled engineering and grant work and return with updates as projects advance.