(Atlantic) The Atlantic Municipal Utilities Board of Trustees reviewed and adopted the 2025 Budget Amendment and 2026 Annual Budget following a Public Hearing held this past Monday night. The Atlantic City Council followed its approval in regular session on Wednesday.
AMU provides electric service to about 4,000 residential and commercial customers within the City of Atlantic and to another 675 customers in the surrounding rural area. About 50% of Atlantic’s power is provided from ownership in W/S#3 coal plant and 50% from Purchase Power contracts. 20% of the power supply is Renewable energy. Both the Electric and Water Departments are debt-free. There will be no rate increases planned for 2026.
According to the report, electric market prices are determined hourly and are subject to significant volatility. In 2025, market prices averaged $35/MWh, over 50% higher than in the previous two years. As a result, AMU’s power costs are $1.1 million over budget. This requires AMU to amend the 2025 Budget to account for these higher costs. However, the higher prices also resulted in AMU receiving an additional $1.7 million in revenue from sales into the energy market. Because of its ownership of the W/S#3 coal plant, AMU has benefited financially from higher market prices.
The following are the 2025 capital projects:
- Completed upsizing the substation serving the Ethanol Plant $4.3 million. All paid for by Elite Octane.
- Replaced (2) 161 kV circuit breakers in Spruce substation $600,000.
- Infrastructure installed in Camblin Hills Addition $400,000.
- Other local infrastructure capital improvements $1 million.
- The 2026 Capital Budget is $2.2 million.
AMU was awarded National Excellence in Reliability for its reliable electric service compared to electric companies nationwide, with an average service availability rate exceeding 99.8%.
According to the American Public Power Association report, 181 electric utilities operate in Iowa; AMU’s electric rates are the 2nd lowest among all 181 utilities.
Additionally, in early 2026, we plan to be going out for bids to install a 600,000-gallon above ground water storage tank. The estimated cost of the project is $1.8 million. We have been awarded a $500,000 CDBG grant to offset a portion of the cost.
