Balanced and Fair Billing
AlexRenew is updating its base charge to better match how much wastewater each customer sends to the system. For most customers, this change will lead to a lower base charge that is more reflective of your use, and a stronger, more reliable wastewater system for the whole community.
The base charge is a fixed monthly fee that pays for the pipes, pumps, and treatment systems that have to be ready and working all the time — no matter how much wastewater is generated.
What are the proposed base charge changes?
Instead of determining the base charge using a customer’s water meter size as we've done in the past, AlexRenew can leverage new metering and billing software to calculate base charges using a customer’s average monthly water use compared to that of a typical household. The new base charge will ensure customers are billed equally for the amount of wastewater they generate.
Below are some examples of how the base charge will be calculated for various customer types. Please note that these are examples only – your base charge will be calculated from your actual monthly water usage.
Understanding how the proposed base charge will be calculated:
Residential customer base charges will be set using 3,500 gallons per month, representing one wastewater unit (the average use of a typical household in Alexandria).
Commercial, industrial, and other public agency customer base charges will be calculated by dividing average monthly use by 3,500 gallons.
For example, a commercial customer with an average monthly use of 35,000 gallons would represent 10 units (35,000 gallons ÷ 3,500 gallons = 10 wastewater units)
These 10 units would be multiplied by the base charge per unit, in this example $14.48, to total $144.80 (10 wastewater units × $14.48 = $144.80)
When will the proposed base charge changes take effect?
AlexRenew is proposing to update to how the base charge is calculated starting July 1, 2026, in alignment with the start of its new fiscal year.
We know that any billing change—no matter how positive—requires time to adjust. That’s why we’re introducing this update gradually over five years. During this transition, your base charge per unit will adjust over time.
How will the new base charge affect ongoing rate increases?
Over the last several years, AlexRenew has been implementing rate increases in support of the RiverRenew program, which will prevent millions of gallons of sewage from polluting Alexandria’s rivers and streams each year.
In 2024, AlexRenew adopted a two-year rate adjustment that includes a 5.7% rate increase starting on July 1, 2026. For most customers, the new base charge change (described above) will result in a lower rate increase. In the graph below, the box outlined in gray represents the original 5.7% rate increase, while the light blue box represents estimated rate adjustment incorporating the base charge change.
What are the expected impacts of the base charge change?
All single-family residential and 75% of commercial, industrial, and other public agency classes will see a decrease in their monthly bill.
About 3% of customers in the commercial, industrial, and other public agency classes will see an increase in their monthly bill due to the base charge change. To minimize this impact, AlexRenew will:
- Phase-in changes to the base charge over 5 years;
- Communicate directly with customers most impacted by these changes; and
- Work to offer bill credits through the Lifeline Emergency Assistance Program (LEAP).