Colorado Springs Utilities will go before city council in April with a proposal to increase utility bills to pay for the replacement of natural gas lines throughout the city. Late last year federal authorities said springs utilities needed to replace steel gas lines. The project will take about 10 years. Utilities will propose an increase of 8.54 cents a month to residential bills and 18 dollars a month to commercial bills to pay for the project. Springs utilities will have to replace hundreds of miles of steel gas lines. Officials say that increase will eventually go away, if passed, in 3 years and the balance of the project will be paid for through basic customer rates.
