City officials are seeking bidders for the first phase of Indianapolis’ largest-ever public works project, an underground tunnel system equipped to store millions of gallons of raw sewage and prevent the excrement from flowing into local waterways.
The price to get big industrial firms like Eli Lilly and Co., National Starch and Rolls-Royce Corp. to support the sale of the city’s water and sewer utilities to Citizens Energy Group is at least $1.5 million.
Ratepayers would pay no more than $14 million to cover charges associated with Citizens’ purchase of Indianapolis water and sewer utilities. Some say the capped amount is too much.
A not-for-profit public trust that wants to buy Indianapolis' water and sewer utilities has agreed to document all of the savings it says the $1.9 billion deal would create. State regulators still must approve the transaction.
Citizens Energy previously said not using the bonds would add about $100 million to the cost of the deal over 30 years.
The new plan includes an accelerated construction schedule for the city’s efforts to reduce sewage overflows from systems that carry both storm runoff and sanitary waste.
If Citizens Energy can successfully manage and mitigate over the next two years the city’s lingering legal and contractual
obligations involving the water and sewer utilities Citizens is negotiating to buy, the city can hang onto an extra $25 million
in the deal.
The city's AAA bond rating boosts proceeds to $153.8 million. It originally expected $140 million for street, bridge and
sidewalk projects.
City-County Council members voted 19-10 Monday night to approve Republican Mayor Greg Ballard’s $1.9 billion plan to
transfer Indianapolis’ water and sewer utilities to Citizens Energy Group.
A plan to transfer the city's water and sewer utilities to Citizens Energy Group faces a key vote Monday night at a meeting
of the City-County Council.
Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis support sale of water, sewer utilities.
Gem Utilities Inc. and Gem Water Inc. have offered their sewer and water operations to the town of Cumberland for $6 million.
Citizens Energy should have completed the majority of its due diligence of the city’s water and sewer utilities, which
it plans to acquire, by the end of this month.
So far, in discussing his plan to sell the city’s water and sewer utilities, Mayor Greg Ballard has
emphasized the impact on utility rates, the $1.5 billion in city debt Citizens would assume, and the chance
to improve streets and sidewalks. But Ballard also has another key objective: business attraction and
expansion.
A $1.9 billion proposal to sell the city’s water and sewer utilities splashed into public view last month, but some
financial details settling at the bottom line could make the deal harder to swallow.
Citizens Energy Group’s plan to buy the city’s water and sewer systems will require the utility to raise $262 million in new
bond debt and inherit $1.5 billion in debt. Yet Citizens executives maintain the financial load should not impair the bond
ratings of its principal utilities, Citizens Gas and Citizens Thermal.
Cost savings from combining three utilities helped give Citizens Energy Group an advantage in the deal to take over Indianapolis’
water and sewer operations, said Michael Huber, the city’s director of enterprise development.
The agreement is expected to generate more than $425 million in funding for local infrastructure improvements, and Citizens
has agreed to assume $1.5 billion in debt associated with the utilities.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard pulled out his predecessor Steve Goldsmith’s Republican playbook and began exploring a host
of privatization proposals in an effort to save money.
The Town of Bargersville won a legal dispute Monday that will allow it to annex 739 parcels within three miles of Greenwood’s
city limits and become the exclusive sewer-service provider in the area.
