SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – City Utilities customers could see a rate increase in the coming years.

CU presented a plan to raise rates at the city council meeting this week.

“There’s never a good time for a rate increase,” said Joel Alexander with City Utilities.

The proposal would increase rates by $5 per month over three years, ending at an extra $15 a month for the average household in 2026.

“We’re answering the need to raise the rates because of inflation,” Alexander said. “We’ve seen inflation on everything that we do, just like inflation has hit everyone in their daily living.”

Alexander says the extra money will go toward equipment management, such as pole maintenance and replacement.

“Everything we use on a daily basis, we’re seeing the prices of those go up,” Alexander said.

CU customer Nathaniel Moore says this rate hike is expected.

“I feel that everything’s going up, so it doesn’t surprise me,” Moore said. “$15 really is not that bad overall. So I’m not really complaining about that too much.”

Data shared by City Utilities shows even with this potential increase, CU rates would sit below the state and national average.

“We remain the lowest-cost electric utility provider in the state,” Alexander said, “And we’re going to still be that for many, many years to come.”

Moore says there are ways he tries to reduce electric costs.

“Usually you try not to go in and out of the house, try to keep it a certain temperature, turn the lights off when you go from room to room,” Moore said. “Yeah, I’m really a stickler on that.”

“Keeping our costs low is the primary goal of what we have,” Alexander said. “We have to have funds to operate. But our main goal isn’t to make a profit.”