Columbia Council approves water rate hike of up to 150% over next 5 years for new infrastructure

Dozens of people packed the chambers of Columbia City Hall on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, waiting for a chance to speak on proposed Columbia Power and Water System water rate increases. (Photo: Cassandra Stephenson)

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Columbia’s City Council on Thursday approved water rate hikes of up to 20% per year over the next five years to fund a new $520 million intake on the Duck River and a new water treatment plant.

The rate increase will affect Columbia Power and Water Systems’ 27,000 customers, as well as thousands more served by other water systems that buy water from Columbia Power and Water. New rates go into effect on March 1, according to the new rate schedule.

The council approved the new rates 5-2, with Council member Charlie Huffman and Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder voting no. The council also unanimously approved an increase of the utility’s impact fee for new customers, creating potential future revenue that could reduce the need to raise customer rates, according to the utility’s CEO, Jonathan Hardin.

The vote followed weeks of intense debate and input from residents of Columbia and surrounding cities that purchase water from the utility. Dozens of people packed the Columbia Council’s chambers Thursday night to speak ahead of the vote, with the majority asking council members to delay the decision and examine alternatives in hopes of finding a cheaper option.

Proposed Columbia water rate increase for new infrastructure clears first vote

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Water Resources Division Director April Grippo said other ideas that have been pitched would require additional study.

“We are not aware of another alternative that is as mature as Columbia Power and Water’s that would be available for the next several years,” she said during a council meeting on Tuesday.

Staff from Columbia Power and Water Systems and the state’s water division said the project, which has been under consideration for at least 10 years and has cleared state environment and wildlife oversight, is necessary to ensure continued water delivery as the region’s needs grow. Water systems are required by the state to plan for expansion when they meet 80% of their capacity, and the Columbia utility is at 93% capacity now, Grippo said.

Elected officials representing Maury County residents opposed the rate increase or advocated for city leaders to delay the vote and explore other options, including Maury County Mayor Sheila Butt, multiple Maury County commissioners, and State Rep. Scott Cepicky, a Culleoka Republican. 

Maury County residents living outside of Columbia city limits repeatedly said they felt disenfranchised by the rate approval process. Columbia Power and Water Systems is a city utility that sells water at wholesale rates to other nearby water systems serving a combined 35,000 customers in Maury County, Spring Hill and Mount Pleasant, but rate changes are approved solely by the Columbia City Council.

A few speakers, including Trent Ogilvie, who sat on the Columbia utility’s board in 2018, recalled the project was estimated to cost $225 million at the time, compared to more than $500 million eight years later.

“But yet, we say, let’s continue to wait,” he said.

Plans for the project have been publicly available on the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s website since 2021, and the state has hosted nine public meetings on the project since 2020.

Ward 1 Council member Carl McCullen initially voted against the proposal in December, but supported the measure on Thursday. McCullen recalled discussions about persistent and intensifying water supply issues stretching back decades.

Columbia considers water rate hike of up to 150% over next 5 years for new intake, treatment plant

“Water’s a problem. You can’t keep putting it off, and pause it … I think it’s time for us to do something about that,” McCullen said.

What this means for water bills

The new water rate schedule allows Columbia Power and Water to increase rates up to 20% each year, but Hardin and Columbia Vice Mayor Randy McBroom have referred to this cap as the “worst case scenario.”

The low-interest federal and state loans that will fund the project require stress tests that do not allow the utility to assume any new revenue will come from a growing customer base or new customer impact fees. 

All customers will see a 20% hike in their water bill in the first year, according to the utility, but Columbia Power and Water expects increases in years three through five will be lower.

Annual cost of service studies will determine increases for each type of customer — including industrial customers, wholesale customers, and customers inside and outside of the city limits — for years two through five.

For an average monthly bill for 5,000 gallons for a Columbia Water and Power System customer inside city limits, a customer paying a $34.75 water bill might pay up to $86.47 by 2030, according to the utility. An average customer outside city limits may go from paying $45.25 for 5,000 gallons to as much as $112.60 by 2030. 

Multiple speakers at Thursday’s meeting said those higher rates will be detrimental to farmers, elderly residents, those on fixed incomes and households that are already struggling to keep up with bills. Several lamented that “past sins” and continued approval of new development without matching infrastructure are to blame.

“If you don’t have the resources, you can’t have the people here,” Joey Davenport said. “If I have an empty glass of water and I have a full glass of water, what does it matter if you can’t afford that full glass? It’s no different than the empty glass.”

Maury County Water System customers already pay higher rates than Columbia Water and Power customers, because the county utility buys its water from Columbia’s utility at wholesale prices and sells it to county customers after adding on additional costs. This particularly concerned farmers and those who live on rural land outside of the reach of the city’s utility. 

Jason Gilliam, a member of the Maury County Water System Board, said the extra cost for county water system customers has to do with economy of scale. Columbia has about 500 miles of pipe in the ground and about 27,000 customers, while Maury County Water System has 475 miles of pipe in the ground and serves 8,800. Gilliam, who also chairs the county’s Republican Party and leads a group advocating for the construction of a new dam in Columbia, also urged the council to vote against the raise.

“I’m not going to waste any more time discussing the enormous cost of the project or the detriment it would cost to so many people that live here — those who have spent their entire lives here, making this place what it is,” he said. “I want to remind you … of your role on the city council … you said that you wanted to serve your community.”

Molder, who voted against the increase, said “this is the right project at the wrong time,” and he could not justify a vote in favor due to concerns about skyrocketing costs of living.

Molder is also in the running to represent Tennessee’s fifth Congressional district, which covers portions of Maury, Davidson, Lewis, Marshall, Wilson and Williamson counties.

Columbia Power and Water will send out sample bills to each ratepayer so they know what to expect on their bills after March 1.

Project details

The higher impact fee and water rates will allow Columbia’s water utility to secure low-interest, long-term loans from the state and federal governments.The $520 million price tag includes all project costs, including design, construction and mitigation, according to Columbia Power and Water.

The new intake will be located downstream from the utility’s current intake at Riverside Drive. The new intake can withdraw up to 32 million gallons of water per day from the Duck River, 12 million gallons more than the current intake is permitted to withdraw.

Grippo said the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation would not approve raising the withdrawal cap at the Riverside Drive intake because water flow at that portion of the river is too low to sustain it. Flow is higher downstream.

The utility has already secured 63% of the land easements needed for the project, and anticipates it will hold 75% in the next two to three weeks, Hardin said.

Work on the intake and water treatment plant is slated to begin in Spring 2026 and conclude in summer 2029.