Business Digest

Aqua Ohio gets OK to raise rates

Columbus

Aqua Ohio, Inc., will be allowed to raise its rates for its Masury Division water service, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ruled Wednesday. The Masury Division serves about 1,500 customers in Brookfield and Hubbard townships. The approval provides Aqua Ohio with a rate of return of 7.8 percent. The average residential bill will increase from $19.05 to $24.85 per month in the first year, PUCO said in a release Wednesday. The average bill will then gradually increase to $39.94 per month over two years, before dropping to $31.71 in 2014. Aqua Ohio’s last rate increase was in 2001. The Masury Division increase will go into effect for the first billing cycle after the water utility files for tariffs.

Record harvest

Worthington, ohio

Ohio soybean exports soared to record numbers in the 2008-09 harvest year, the Ohio Soybean Council reported this week. Ohio exported 1.24 billion bushels in 2008-09, a 10 percent increase from the previous year. Every year, approximately half of the U.S. soybean crop is exported to markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America. China accounted for about 23 percent of all U.S. soybean products last year, a 40 percent increase from the 2007-08 harvest year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that Ohio’s exports of soybeans and soybean products added nearly $6 billion to the state’s economy between 1998 and 2008, making it the state’s top agricultural export.

Staff report