POWDERSVILLE — The Powdersville Water District Board of Directors voted during the October meeting to raise rates 7.5 percent for retail customers.

The rate increase will become effective in the January 2011 billing.

The recommendation for the increase was the result of the district’s annual budget and rate modeling process. Each year the district completes an annual update of its comprehensive financial plan and rate model to ensure that rates are adequate to cover projected expenses for the coming year.

This process takes into account not only the ongoing expenses of operating the system on a day-to-day basis but also debt service costs and any planned capital improvements. The District did not raise rates in 2010.

The rate increase was driven by three key factors:

· Powdersville Water’s three wholesale water suppliers’ plan to increase their rates by as much as 10 percent in the coming year. Powdersville Water receives its water from Anderson Regional Joint Water System, Easley Combined Utilities, and the Greenville Water System.

· The District continues to fund several upgrades to the water distribution system to provide a better level of service to all customers.

· Extensive utility relocation work will be necessary due to new road construction that has been forecasted for 2011 by the state and county transportation departments.

“We do not enjoy raising rates,” Board Chairman Norman Garrison said. “We know that these are still tough economic times for many of our customers and we have worked diligently to keep the increase as low as possible. We believe that this increase is necessary at this time to meet the needs of everyone in the district, and to maintain the level of service we have all come to expect.”

A PWD press release states that water rates remain average when compared to other similar sized utilities across the state. A typical PWD residential customer who uses 6,000 gallons per month can expect to pay $29.82.