PWP Proposes Nearly Quarter Billion Dollar Budget for Next Fiscal Year

Pasadena Water and Power is recommending a budget of $224.443 million for fiscal year 2023. This is about $9 million higher than the department’s budget adopted for this fiscal year.

During the meeting of the Municipal Services Committee on May 10, Jeffrey Kightlinger, Acting General Manager of PWP, said the funding will support PWP programs related to the identification of renewable and carbon-free resources to meet the City’s goals and energy mandates.

It will also be used for securing power purchase agreements for Battery Energy Storage Systems and Solar Plus Battery Storage Systems, as well as for the building and transportation electrification, among other projects.

This year, the PWP is expecting revenue of $233.306 million from its services.

Kightlinger said while revenue is starting to pick back up, overall revenue is still down. “The loss of revenue is probably associated with COVID, impacts from that.”

In 2019, PWP recorded a power services revenue of $237.389 million. In 2020, it recorded $234.982 million. In 2021, it recorded $231.903 million and in 2022, it recorded a revenue of $229.752 million.

“We cannot have our expenses greater than our revenue year after year and so we are working on that and looking at ways to make that change,” said Kightlinger.

Meanwhile, PWP is proposing a budget of $70.486 million for the water-related expenses for FY 2023. The budget is over $1 million higher than what was adopted last year.

The budget increased by about $11 million over the last five years and this is due to the increasing cost of imported water, among other factors, according to Kightlinger.

PWP is seeing revenue of $75.585 million from water-related services. This is an increase of about $9 million in comparison to the 2019 revenue.

“Revenues jumped in 2021 through 2023 and that is almost entirely due to the recent rate hike that the council recently adopted,” Kightlinger said, further adding the city action is much appreciated and needed especially because PWP has seen reduced water sales due to water conservation policies in place.

The funding will support the development and promotion of an innovative water conservation awareness campaign, the completion of Garfield and Ventura Wells, the initiation of the Wadsworth Treatment Project and the continuation of the Arroyo Seco Canyon Project, among other PWP projects, according to Kightlinger.