MEDIA RELEASE
Aquatera Shareholders Presented with 2017/18 Business Plan
January 16, 2017
GRANDE PRAIRIE – “Helping Grow Healthy Communities” is the theme of Aquatera’s next two-year business plan.
The 2017/18 Business Plan will be presented to the Town of Sexsmith today, the City of Grande Prairie tomorrow and the County of Grande Prairie next monday. The plan outlines how Aquatera will deliver on its three strategic objectives: Grow Our Business, Engage with Stakeholders and Drive Our Culture.
Capital Investments
Within the plan, Aquatera has identified $93 million towards capital projects and upgrades to accommodate increased growth, meet more stringent regulations and achieve business goals.
Significant projects include:
- Wapiti River Facility Upgrades - $20 million
- City Downtown Enhancement - $1.9 million for water and $2.6 million for sewer
- Clairmont Mercer Hill Water Reservoir/Pumphouse (growth related) - $9 million
- Clairmont Regional Wastewater Lift Station/Forcemain/Trunk (phase 1 – growth related) - $12.9 million
- Clairmont Lagoon Discharge Project - $15.8 million
- Sexsmith – 95 Avenue Sanitary Sewer (growth related) - $1.1 million
- New Bioreactor Landfill Cell - $2.75 million
- Water to Wembley (Aquatera support) - $20 million
The success of our Municipal partners in accessing federal and provincial funding for essential infrastructure helps reduce utility rate impacts over the long term.
Rate Changes
The 2017/18 plan also summarizes the proposed annual rate changes. Monthly wastewater charges vary for each community, depending on the services and cost of operations; water rates are uniform.
Several factors influence the rate increases, including:
- The need for customer costs to reflect the actual cost to provide the service, which differs across the communities.
- Increases in everyday costs – such as utilities, labour and maintenance – to provide water, sewer, and waste services.
- Capital investment to accommodate growth or meet regulatory requirements.
If approved, new rates will be effective March 2017, though customers won’t see the change reflected in their bills until April.
“Aquatera continues to invest in infrastructure to ensure high quality drinking water, enhanced environmental stewardship and support a growing region. The rate increases reflect the need for necessary infrastructure upgrades to continue to provide essential services to our customers and to deliver on our core purpose of helping grow healthy communities,” says Bernd Manz, Aquatera CEO.
The typical residential household connected to the Grande Prairie wastewater system will pay about $41.13 per month for water services and $48.49 per month for wastewater treatment services, based on an average water consumption of 20 cubic metres each month.
Typical monthly increases will vary for each community from as low as $1.49 in Grande Prairie to $9.50 per month in Clairmont.
The most significant increases will be for Clairmont wastewater customers, as critical infrastructure improvements will be made to connect the Clairmont system to Grande Prairie’s, providing a long term solution for continued growth.
“Providing service value with a goal of rates below the median of comparable Alberta communities is a key priority for Aquatera,” Manz adds. “This year Aquatera customers will see a two percent drop in residential garbage collection and recycling charges.”
For more information about the 2017/18 Business Plan and Rates, visit aquatera.ca/rates.
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Contact
Chelsea Lewis
Communications and Change Manager
Aquatera Utilities Inc.
P: 587.297.0692