Lansing BWL Rate Hike: How Much More Customers Will Pay

If you're a Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) customer, your October bill will be a tiny new roommate. It promises not to eat much, but yes, it wants more money.

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The BWL Board of Commissioners approved another round of utility rate increases on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, with new prices taking effect on October 1. WILX reports this marks the fifth straight year commissioners have approved higher utility bills.

What Lansing BWL Says the Money Will Fix

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BWL says the increase is about keeping an aging system from becoming a very expensive game of "what's gonna break next?" The utility plans to replace decades-old water mains, build new substations, strengthen operations and corporate cybersecurity, and continue investments tied to cleaner energy and state carbon-reduction requirements.

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The BWL said in a statement that it's cut $7 million from its corporate operating budget and secured $14.8 million in grants over the past two years to help offset costs.

So, How Much More Will Lansing Customers Pay?

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Here's come the part your wallet was hoping we'd forget. The average residential electric increase is 2.1%. For a customer using 500 kWh a month, that works out to $2.16 more per month.

Residential water rates will rise 2.39% to 3.34%, depending on usage. BWL measures in CCF, or 100 cubic feet of water. One CCF equals roughly 748 gallons, because apparently saying "748 gallons" was just too easy. The increase works out to another 88 cents per month for customers using 2 CCF (roughly 1,496 gallons) and $1.15 for those using 5 CCF (about 3,740 gallons).

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Put electricity and water rate increases together, a household using 500 kWh and 5 CCF would pay about $3.31 more per month, or around $39.72 per year.