SUPERIOR, WI (Northern News Now) – As the mayor of Superior continues a quest to have the city take over the private water utility, he shared the findings from a city-commissioned report outlining how much that could cost at a news conference on Thursday.
Superior Water Light and Power (SWL&P), an ALLETE Company, is the only privately owned utility in the state of Wisconsin and has served Superior residents for more than a century.
But mayor Jim Paine believes the city managing its own utilities would save residents money as he claims SWL&P’s rates are higher than they need to be.
So, city leaders recently paid an independent appraiser $150,000 to look into how much it could cost the city to acquire SWL&P.
According to Paine, those findings show it would cost $58 million to take over only the water utility, something Paine claims the city can afford and wouldn’t come down on taxpayers.
Paine also says residents’ water rates would go down as the city wouldn’t charge for profit.
However, there’s a debate over that number and whether it’s accurate.
In February, SWL&P leaders announced the findings from a similar report they commissioned from a different independent analyst.
That report claimed it would cost the city $139 million just to acquire the water portion, or about $300 million for all three utilities.
SWL&P leaders said Paine’s claims that water bills would decrease without any financial impact doesn’t align with their analysis, adding that it’s in residents’ best interest to have a privately owned utility.
As for the final price tag, state regulators would ultimately decide what the fair market value is, something there would be contested case hearings on.
If city leaders give the okay, Superior voters would get the final say on the acquisition, possibly as early as a referendum on the November, 2026 ballot.
The city is also exploring acquiring SWL&P’s other utilities.
The city’s studies on that potential cost are ongoing and would require separate processes.
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