Latest Guides

Government

Higher City Water Prices Coming Down the Pipe?

Published on Monday, March 27, 2017 | 4:38 am
 

Pasadena’s water supply concerns, including a proposal for a new water rate structure that could mean raising water rates by October, will be spotlighted at regular meeting of the City Council’s Municipal Services Committee on Tuesday, March 28.

Pasadena Water and Power General Manager Gurcharan Bawa is expected to report on a proposed water rate structure redesign that results from studies by the department and consultations with a Water Rate Study Group organized in 2016 and comprised of residential customers from each City Council District and commercial customers selected in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce.

The Study Group was asked to provide feedback and comment on the proposed rates and held three meetings in November, facilitated by a senior member of the consulting firm RMC Water and Environment, Inc. and with a representative from the City Manager’s Office attending.

Bawa has submitted a lengthy memorandum to the Municipal Services Committee stating the details of the study conducted and specifying how the current water rate structure will be revised.

He said PWP is developing a program for customer information and outreach for the proposed water rate restructuring. A web page, with instructional video, is being designed to explain the rate proposal.

According to a timeline in the memo, the customer outreach and feedback phase will take up most of June and July, and public hearings at the City Council could begin in July. The new water rate structure could take effect by October.

As to the new rates, Bawa’s memo also mentioned a 0.3 percent increase by October 2017, and a 0.6 percent hike by October 2018.

Bawa’s memo also listed a number of impacts expected when PWP’s new water structure is implemented:

• The vast majority of residential customers will see an overall bill impact in the range of -1 percent to +1 percent

• Nearly all residential customers with meters less than 1.5 inches will experience a bill decrease due to reduced block 1 and block 2 prices

• Conversely, nearly all residential customers with meters 1.5 inches or larger will experience a bill increase due to reduced block 2 and block 3 allocations

• Customers with larger meters will generally experience larger bill increases, and of those, customers with smaller property sizes are impacted the most

• Smaller multifamily complexes with up to 20 units will see moderate bill increase, while those with more than 21 units will see moderate decreases

• An average revenue increase of about 5 percent will be passed on to commercial customers as a group (excluding extra-large commercial) due to past under collection.

Bawa said the proposed changes to the water rates are designed to balance affordability, rate stability, and bill impact, ease of understanding, conservation incentives and the continued efficient use of water. The rate design, he said, also considers revenue stability and the ability to implement the rate design using the existing billing system.

Bawa will also give an update on the City’s Water Master Plan, which provides an evaluation of PWP’s existing water system infrastructure and its ability to adequately produce and distribute water under existing and future conditions through 2020. He will also provide a Status Update of the 2011 Water Integrated Resources Plan and Current Water Supply Conditions.

The Municipal Services Committee meeting will start at 4 p.m. at the Council Chamber Room S249 at the Pasadena City Hall. Public comment is allowed right after the roll call.

Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.

Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.

Make a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

 

 

buy ivermectin online
buy modafinil online
buy clomid online
buy ivermectin online