COUNTY NEWS RELEASE

A second and final public hearing for water rate adjustments will be held on Tuesday, September 29, at 6 p.m. both online and in person at the Los Alamos County Council meeting in Council Chambers at the Los Alamos County Municipal Building, 1000 Central Ave. Anyone wishing to join remotely may do so using the link https://ladpu.com/ratehearing.  

If adopted by the Council, the ordinance will take effect on October 1. The proposed ordinance and answers to frequently-asked-questions about it can be found on DPU’s website under the Proposed Rate Changes section header at https://ladpu.com/rates. 

The initial water rate ordinance was adopted by County Council on June 30. However, a clerical error invalidated the adopted ordinance. The same water rate ordinance will be presented during the public hearing at County Council on September 29.

Residential water rates are timed to increase in the fall, after tiered water rates expire for the year. Household water use generally decreases during this time as outdoor water use is mostly eliminated.  

The DPU is proposing increases to water rates that would help cover ongoing operating costs and build cash reserves for future infrastructure maintenance and improvements. For a household that uses about 6,000 gallons of water each month, the current total cost (including the service charge) is $61.87. If the new rates are approved, that cost would be $66.81 in October 2026 and $72.15 in October 2027.

Members of the public are invited to make public comment about the proposed rate ordinance during the meeting, either in person or via Zoom, or before the meeting using the eComment tool, found at https://lacnm.com/eComment. Comments posted to social media, while public, are not recorded as public comment to agenda items.