Batavia residents would have another increase next year in electricity rates under a recommendation approved by a City Council committee.
The Public Utilities Committee voted this week to recommend that the council raise rates by 8.9 percent Jan. 1, and by another 8.9 percent Jan. 1, 2008. The council is expected to consider the measure Monday.
The last increase was effective Jan. 1, when the council raised the rate per kilowatt-hour by 5 percent in response to the rising cost of electricity on the wholesale market. Batavia buys electricity from Exelon, Commonwealth Edison’s parent company, and sells it to residents and businesses at cost. The city owns and maintains its own power grid.
The two 8.9 percent hikes would allow Batavia to buy enough electricity to meet the needs of residents until 2010, when the Prairie State power plant is scheduled to go on line Downstate. The plant, partly owned by Batavia, should supply the city with enough power to fuel expansion and day-to-day operations without having to buy it on the open market, Electric Department Supt. Hank Vejvoda said.