BWS has applied for a nearly 9% increase in water bills and that increase could go into effect as early as May first. The application for the increase was delivered to the PUC today and it asks for an 8.76% increase under what's called the annual price adjustment process. BWS' government-controlled board of directors and the government installed CEO Alvan Haynes say the company's cost of operation has been affected by inflation, an increase in electricity rates and an increase in interest rates.
The submission was made today, and the public now has 10 days to comment, and the PUC will then makes its decision 5 days after that. If there is an increase arising from that decision, the new rate would go into effect on May first. The PUC's director of rates is Anna Rossington and today she explained the process to us and told us what you can do if you want to object.
Anna Rossington, PUC - Director of Rates
"BWS has actually come in and for the inflation, electricity costs, and interest costs, and they are asking for a tariff increase of 8.7%. We will be reviewing their submission and the public again has the opportunity to comment on their submission and we will accept comments for the next ten days and then we will release our final decision in fifteen days, not longer than fifteen days and any changes in tariff will take effect as of the first of next month."
Jules Vasquez,
What should the concerned consumer do?
Anna Rossington,
"The consumer should get in contact with the PUC, should send in written comments to us. If they could try and address what's in the submission and they could try and include some form of analysis or numbers, we will accept any kind of comment but the more evidence or the more proof or analysis that you can do, the better it helps us."
Jules Vasquez,
Isn't it a fact Anna that the process of rate review is skewed against the consumer because in fact the consumer's reality is not represented, only the corporate reality is represented in the figures the utility submits to you? So if a consumer sends, for example, his or her pay slip and the combined utility bills they have to pay and a calculation of how hard it is for them to just get by every month, that has no bearing, that is not a statistic that the PUC can put into its formula for arriving at a rate.
Anna Rossington,
"And it is difficult, I recognize it is difficult for the consumer and what we would like to see is consumers grouping together in the long term groups can form which can do this type of analysis and actually represent consumers so that there is a combined voice, that would be ideal. And yes I can understand that consumers can get upset at times and if there is nothing we can do about it, there is nothing we can do about it."
In May of last year, the PUC granted BWS a 2.5% increase for inflation costs. At that time, the company had requested a 2.7% inflation adjustment. In its letter to the PUC, BWS' CEO Alvan Haynes claims that the company is experiencing cash flow problems because of these factors and because it has not been able obtain a, "previously negotiated overdraft facility" from the Alliance Bank.
The PUC is also considering an annual review proceeding from BEL. The good news there is that BEL is not asking for another increase. And it hardly could...after all, in the past year, it did get a combined 24% average increase through two different reviews. Still, the PUC has to review the BEL application and that review must be finished by June 24th of this year. The public input is also invited for the BEL process.
