Customers of Alabama’s largest water utility, which serves the Birmingham metro area, will see their rates increase by 3.4% in January, with an additional increase possible later next year.
The rate hike will increase most residential customers’ bills by up to $3.38 per month. In addition, a change in the utility’s rate structure will increase those customers’ bills by up to $4.90 per month.
The board overseeing Central Alabama Water approved the increase in a meeting Friday after a senior manager described the utility’s pipeline system as crumbling and failing and a financial advisor said larger increases will be needed in the future to meet infrastructure needs…