State regulators on Monday approved the biggest water rate increase in Chattanooga history.
They voted 2-1 for a 14.76 percent across-the-board water price hike for local utility Tennessee American Water Co., with Eddie Roberson voting no.
Mary Freeman, chairwoman of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, sliced in half the utility's original proposal for a roughly 30.5 percent increase, but left in place much of the company's request to allow for a "reasonable rate of return."
Left undone was a ruling on a settlement agreement between Chattanooga's industrial water users and the utility, which was postponed until April 18.
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