LUCERNE – Lucerne”s ratepayers may be facing another increase for the cost of water service as the California Water Service Company (Cal Water) works to update its cost of operations, according to a press release from the utility”s Guerneville office.
The possible 21.3 percent rate hike comes on the virtual heels of a 121 percent increase last year, cut down from the 246 percent Cal Water requested after a 2005 review.
According to Thomas Smegal, manager of rates at Cal Water, there won”t be any rate hikes till after July 2008. Cal Water put in an application earlier this month with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to review rising costs for “centralized services” through its San Jose headquarters, according to the press release.
Centralized services include water quality testing, engineering, maintenance, information systems, accounting and conservation programming. The costs for these services has increased since they were last reviewed in 2004, states the Cal Water release. Driving up those costs are payroll, employee health care and pension costs, taxes, facilities maintenance and the costs of transportation and fuel, explained Smegal.
The proposed rate increase may bringing an average bill up by almost $15, according to the Cal Water release. “Average” for Lucerne, by Cal Water”s estimate, is a consumer using seven CCFs (hundred cubic feet), or 5,236 gallons of water per month. For such a consumer, $14.31 would be added to a monthly bill, or 48 cents per day. Another $2.76, or nine cents per day, would be added the following year.
That”s if the CPUC approves the increase. “That”s the maximum amount we could get, and we”re likely to get less than that,” said Smegal. He said the early July application was the beginning of a process that should take at least a year. “Only at the end will we be asking for a rate increase,” said Smegal.
Smegal called the application a one-time fee increase, and noted that it is separate from periodic reviews for the area-specific cost of services to each of the utility”s 24 districts statewide. The company is in the process of having all 24 districts simultaneously reviewed every three years for needed fee increases to maintain each area”s water systems, explained Shannon Dean, Cal Water”s director of corporate communications. Currently, eight districts go through the review process every three years, spreading the work more evenly.
Dean said it is the CPUC”s attempt to “streamline its decision making,” which came down in a recent water action plan, which also included a focus on water conservation.
“Countywide programs will benefit all customers, including those in Lucerne,” said Dean. Those benefits include plans for a cross-connection control program that prevents non-potable water from flowing into the drinking water system, a unidirectional water line flushing program to enhance water quality, a centralized after-hours call center to provide support in addition to Lucerne”s 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. service hours and more conservation programs.
Lucerne”s two water interest groups, Lucerne Community Water Organization (LCWO) and Friends of Locally Owned Water (FLOW) have been working to raise awareness in the community about the water issues facing the area and about the need for conservation.
LCWO President Craig Bach said in a recent press release that the group asked the county Board of Supervisors to intervene on its behalf before the CPUC. The request may be discussed in a closed BOS meeting early in August, writes Bach, at the request of Dist. 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing.
Lucerne falls within Rushing”s district, and Cal Water”s Redwood Valley district.
“If someone doesn”t intervene, Cal Water gets what it wants without challenge,” said Rushing. She qualified her remarks by noting the existence of the utility”s division of ratepayer advocates, whose sole purpose is to challenge the company”s proposed increases on the behalf of ratepayers. Rushing noted that FLOW is investigating the possibility of taking over Lucerne”s water system, but to do so they would need “a great deal of support from the residents of Lucerne,” she said.
All in all, Cal Water is doing what a privately held utility company is expected to do, which is to make money, noted Rushing. “What we all have to decide is, is that the best model for owning a water system that requires capitol improvements in our area, or are there other possibilities that would work better?”
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
