El Paso Water and the Public Service Board are set to hold a second workshop Wednesday evening on the utility's 2027-28 budget, with board members expected to narrow down or settle on one of four competing spending plans that range from modest rate increases to the elimination of hundreds of jobs. The session comes a little over a month after the utility first laid out its options, and it marks a pivotal step toward a vote that will shape household water bills and infrastructure spending for the coming fiscal year.
The workshop is scheduled for 6 p.m. at El Paso Water's headquarters at 1154 Hawkins Blvd. in East El Paso, and the utility has confirmed the meeting is open to the public, according to KVIA. El Paso Water first presented its four budget scenarios to the board on Sept. 30, and Wednesday's meeting is expected to produce either a narrower field of options or a clear preferred scenario heading into the new year.
Four Paths, Four Very Different Price Tags
At the low end sits what the utility calls the high-risk scenario, which carries the lowest capital investment of the four options and would raise customer rates and fees by less than $2 per month. But that option comes with steep costs elsewhere: it would defer or cancel capital projects at four treatment plants, including the Pure Water Center, plus two other locations, and eliminate 300 positions, per the same KVIA report. El Paso Water has said that scenario could also put $31 million in grants at risk and create potential regulatory violations and contractual risks.
A step up is the Lean scenario, which reduces capital and operating expenses while delaying 21 projects and eliminating roughly 140 positions, according to CBS4 Local. That approach would raise rates and fees by less than $4 a month, though the utility has warned it would also trigger a slower incident response and put $8 million in grants at risk, the KVIA report notes.
Strategic And Accelerated Options Push Costs Higher
The Strategic scenario, which the KVIA report describes as prioritizing the highest-need capital projects while balancing reliability, affordability and financial risk, would raise rates and fees by $5 per month. At the top of the spectrum is the Accelerated Reliability scenario, projecting the largest capital investment of the four options along with faster pipeline replacement meant to reduce breaks and outages, carrying a $7 monthly increase.
El Paso Matters has reported that the utility's preferred balanced option — one of the plans on the table — would raise typical household water bills by about $60 a year, and that the broader menu of choices includes no rate increase, a roughly 50-cent monthly bump, a $5 increase and a $7 increase. The outlet also reported that the El Paso Matters board directed staff after the September workshop to gather public feedback ahead of Wednesday's session, a step CBS4 Local also confirmed in its coverage of the meeting.
Why The Numbers Vary So Much
El Paso Water has said the combined water, wastewater and stormwater budget at the lowest end of the four scenarios would come in 27% below the current year's $1.2 billion budget, per KVIA. That framing helps explain why the options diverge so sharply: trimming hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget means either delaying capital work or cutting staff, while preserving full-speed infrastructure spending means passing more cost on to ratepayers.
The scale of recent spending underscores the stakes. El Paso Matters has reported that the utility spent a record $831 million on capital improvements in the past fiscal year, compared with an average of $168 million annually from 2018 through 2022, and that El Paso Water expects to finance roughly three-quarters of its $3.3 billion five-year spending plan with debt. A utility financial plan posted by El Paso Water projects a FY 2027-28 water, reuse and wastewater operating and capital budget of $1,092,337,000, though the document itself states it serves as a financial guide and has not been approved by the Public Service Board.
What Happened Last Time Rates Went Up
The current fiscal year offers a reference point for how big these increases can get. The Public Service Board approved El Paso Water's FY 2026-27 water, wastewater and stormwater budgets, rates and fees, and under that approved plan, the typical residential bill rose by $9.99 per month, a 12% increase over the prior year, according to the utility's own announcement. Stormwater fees, by contrast, did not increase under that approved budget.
Timeline To A January Vote
Three regular Public Service Board meetings are scheduled to take place between Wednesday's workshop and the board's planned vote on the 2027-28 budget, which KVIA reports is set for Jan. 13, 2027. If the board approves a budget at that meeting, the new rates and spending plan would take effect March 1, 2027.
