By Rapids City Times staff

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – A Wisconsin Rapids utility has been reprimanded for spending $1.2 million without prior state approval.

Wisconsin Rapids Water Works and Lighting Commission is receiving heat from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) for spending money to upgrade a treatment plant without prior approval. It’s still unknown if the PSC will let the utility recover the costs of the project through its pending rate case.

The project began in 2014, and changes the iron-removal process that was corrosive to a large number of the plant’s controls and equipment. The upgrades saved the utility more than $221,785 a year; however, the utility did not submit construction plans to the PSC for prior approval, which was needed because the cost exceeded 25 percent of the last year’s annual net income.

The Wisconsin Rapids project exceeded that mark by $364,000. The PSC could decide to prohibit the utility from recovering the project’s cost in its next rate hike recommendation. The project was deemed necessary by PSC staff, which also determined the utility did not intentionally violate the law to try serving its customers.