LUCERNE >> The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) held a hearing in Lucerne Thursday to gain input from generally angry customers of California Water Service (CalWater).
Held at the Northshore Community Center, the meeting amounted to a catalog of complaints that will be used as evidence while the CPUC considers CalWater’s request to raise customer rates statewide for the next three years.
According to Paul Townsley, CalWater’s vice president of rates, the company wants to increase usage charges for the average user — who consumes about 100 cubic feet a month — to $77.41 a month by the end of this year on top of the other list of fees they pay. Prices are also proposed to bump up in the following two years — less than 1 percent in 2017 and 1.65 percent in 2018.
The reason for the proposal, he said, was to fund $1.6 million of infrastructure projects in the small town, the largest being a $1.3 million replacement of one mile of pipe.
No decisions were made during the meeting, but more 25 people spoke out in anger, frustration and tears. Lucerne is noted for extraordinary water rates.
Before the meeting, District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele called upon the CPUC’s administrative law judges in attendance to fight for the protection of his constituents, whose median household income is barely $30,000 a year.
“It’s an SOS call for rescue,” he said. “We believe you’ve been asleep at the food dish.”
Anecdotal complaints will be explored in a second story, but the weight of personal evidence weighed heavily against CalWater during Thursday’s meeting. A Bay Area journalist even earned a grant to delve futher into the matter of Lucerne’s high water rates.
The CPUC is scheduled to make a descision in late fall.
