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New Customers - Water Service

Title companies can request service for new homeowners in Erie by visiting the Transfer Service Form.

For any questions regarding setting up new service, please contact the Utility Billing Department at 303-926-2700.

Late Payment Penalties

All customers are given a single-day grace period after their due date to pay their bill. After that day, a fee that is 1% of the unpaid billing amount is added to the customer account. See the Town's Municipal Code for all legal details.

Fee Scenario

Let's assume your bill for the month of March was $100 and you did not pay that amount. A 1% fee (or $1) would be added to your account. For the month of April, your bill is $100 again, but now your customer account will reflect an unpaid balance of $201 - covering the month you didn't pay, the current month, and the 1% fee.

Water Shut-Off Procedures

Customers are given one full month to make payment after the due date on their bill. If payment is not made in that month (or a payment plan is not created with the Utility Billing Division), their water service will be disconnected.

Let's use the scenario above: your utility bill was due on Friday, March 24 and you did not pay the bill. A doorhanger would be posted at your residence on the Tuesday a month later - in this case, on Tuesday, April 26. If the required amount isn't paid in full (or a payment plan isn't created) by 10 a.m. on Thursday - our team will begin shut-off procedures on Thursday starting just after 10 a.m.

A total fee of $40 is also added to any account that requires disconnection and reconnection.

Once the necessary payment is made, customers can call to have their water service re-connected again ASAP. Disconnection and reconnection teams work weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., excluding Town-observed holidays.

FAQs

Is there a penalty for late payment?

Yes. The Town of Erie adds a fee to utility bills for delinquent payment.

All customers are given a single-day grace period after their due date to pay their bill. After that day, a fee that is 1% of the unpaid billing amount is added to the account.

Late Payment Penalties

All customers are given a single-day grace period after their due date to pay their bill. After that day, a fee that is 1% of the unpaid billing amount is added to the customer account.

Fee Scenario

Water Shut-Off Procedures

A total fee of $40 is also added to any account that requires disconnection and reconnection.

How is my utility bill calculated?

Your monthly utility bill has three components for water, wastewater, and storm drainage services.

Customers are charged for water service through a fixed service charge and a tiered volume charge. The fixed service charge covers billing costs and customer costs such as field service crews, meter replacement, and repair. The tiered volume charge recovers the cost to collect, treat, and distribute water, as well as fire protection. Water is charged on an actual basis and typically fluctuates each month.

Customers are charged for wastewater service through a fixed service charge determined by your average winter usage for December, January, and February. We do this because typically, all water used is used indoors in these months, so it is a reasonable estimation of your wastewater service needs. Wastewater charges are consistent month-to-month after being updated annually.

Customers are charged for stormwater drainage through a fixed monthly charge.

How does the Town supply our community with water?

The Town of Erie is committed to providing our more than 30,000 water customers with safe, reliable, high-quality water services essential to everyday life. The Town’s primary water source is the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, which originates on the western slope. Other sources include water stored in Windy Gap and Gross Reservoirs. In emergencies, we have access to Lafayette Water and Lefthand Water.

How does the cost of Erie’s water compare to our neighbors?

Diverting water from the western slope to the Front Range is a very lengthy, complex, and expensive process. Water is governed in Colorado by the Prior Appropriation Doctrine – or as it’s known in shorthand, “first in time, first in right.” Older cities typically hold senior water rights and younger cities typically have junior rights; Erie is among the latter group, which means our raw water costs are often higher than some of our neighbors.

But youth has its advantages too. For instance, in Colorado and nationwide, many utilities are grappling with funding the expensive prospect of replacing aging infrastructure. Fortunately, as Erie is a younger community, our water customers enjoy the benefits of our modern, efficient infrastructure.

How do I read my utility bill?

Summary of Responsible Parties' Information
In the upper right of the Utility Bill is the summary of responsible parties’ information; bill due dates, bill amount, and how the bill is set to be paid. (It will only say Paid By Draft if that is set up).

Customer Account Information
Across the top are the responsible parties' name, address, and account number:

Current Billing Period
The next row is the information for the current billing period. Going from left to right; view the:

Service status: in this example it says active – water is actively being supplied to this location.
Service dates The town bills water service on a monthly schedule; in this case the range is the 4th of December to the 4th of January, a total of 31 days in this case.
Bill date: This is the date that the bill was generated by the Town of Erie The Penalty Date: This is the date after which a penalty fee will be assessed
Due date: This is the date on which the payment must have been received by the Town to avoid any penalty.

Meter Readings and Volume
Moving down a row (and left to right) is the:

Current meter reading
Previous month’s reading
Normalized volume used in this billing period
Meter Readings: In the example below, the January reading of 472,662 gallons and the December reading of 468,635 gallons, and a billed usage of 4,000 gallons. Even though the math comes out to just over 4,000 gallons, the town rounds to 4,000. The rounding rules are pretty simple: The threshold is 500 gallons: anything less than 499 rounds down to the nearest thousand, and anything more than 500 rounds up to the nearest thousand.

Charges

Summary of charges: This central section covers the breakdown of charges. Starting at the top, we see last month’s bill for $76.60 and the credit of ($76.60) showing that it was paid on time with no adjustments or penalties; with no past-due amount.
Base water charge: In the example, the charge of $19.36 is determined based on the size of the water-line going into your house.
Water usage tier 1: In the example, the charge of $22.12 is the 4000 gallons used at the $5.53 per 1,000 gallons for this tier 1 use. Remember, the usage tiers are called out at the bottom of the bill. The cost is $5.53 per 1000 gallons used. So at 4000 gallons, this charge comes to $22.12 or $5.53x4.
Storm drainage usage: This charge of $11.98 is a base fee for all residential accounts.
Sewer Base Charge: This charge of $10.30 is a base fee for all users.Sewer Usage Charge: This charge of $28.35 is based on the volume of water used.
Bar graph: In the example, the bar graph depicts 9 months of water volume use for this service address from May through January. This address used just under 10,000 gallons in May and over 30,000 gallons in August.
Tiers:
Tier 1 use is 0 through 5,000 gallons at $5.53 per gallon
Tier 2 use is 5,001 through 15,000 gallons at $6.92 per gallon
Tier 3 use is 15,001 through 25,000 gallons at $10.35 per gallon
Tier 4 use is over 25,001 gallons at $15.49 per gallon
If John Doe had used 7000 gallons of water, his usage charge would be $41.49:
Tier 1, $5.53 x 5 = $27.65
Tier 2, $6.92 x 2 = $13.84
Single-family and Townhomes: Water monthly charge per 1,000 gallons:

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