Citizens says Lebanon water-supply tunnel project on time and below budget amid $700M program planning

Jeffrey Harrison, president and chief executive officer of Citizens Energy Group, updated the board Feb. 19 on the Citizens-to-Lebanon Water Supply Project, describing the work as on time and under budget and outlining the project scale and financing arrangements.

Harrison said the program would move an estimated 25 million gallons per day from Citizens to the city of Lebanon and that the overall program Citizens is planning is about $700 million. He added that the city of Lebanon is separately participating by building its own infrastructure and that Lebanon’s portion of work is roughly $250 million. Harrison said Citizens and Lebanon are both engaging consultants and contractors, and that Citizens is participating in Lebanon’s request for proposals to manage that work.

Harrison told the board Citizens Water customers’ rates and revenues “will not be negatively impacted” by the project, a point he raised while describing the shared financing approach. He reported tunneling work is progressing, remains under budget and is expected to be completed sometime in the summer. Harrison said the utility will provide a public media briefing once milestones warrant a broader announcement.

Board discussion that followed included procedural congratulations to the team; no new board action on the Lebanon project was recorded at the meeting.