Voice opinion on proposed FH water-hike

FOUNTAIN HILLS - The public will have a chance to comment next week on a proposed water-rate hike that would affect 25,000 water users in the Fountain Hills area.

Chaparral City Water Co. is seeking a revenue increase with the Arizona Corporation Commission that would bump up the average monthly household bill by 36 percent.

Public hearings are scheduled starting at 10 a.m. Monday at the Commission's headquarters, 1200 W. Washington St. in Phoenix. If needed, they would continue at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday through Friday, Commission spokeswoman Rebecca Wilder said.

Chaparral Water, which is a separate entity from Fountain Hills, is seeking an extra $3 million a year to upgrade its infrastructure, secure a long-term water supply and account for inflation, utility officials have said.

A customer who uses 8,450 gallons per month with a three-quarter-inch meter would see monthly increase of $11.80, to $44.17 from $32.38.

Following the hearings next week, a judge will issue a Recommended Opinion and Order that the Commission will vote on later, probably in the second or third quarter of 2009, according to the Residential Utility Consumer Office.

RUCO, a state-funded group that supports utility consumers, can provide testimony for or against the hike.

RUCO Director Stephen Ahearn said he hasn't received any direct complaints on the hike from customers. He noted that it is his job to "assume (that) people don't want to pay more than they should."

"Companies deserve some money. It's never what they ask for. It's usually always less," Ahearn said.

Chaparral, whose sole shareholder is the California-based American States Water Company, requested the hike in 2007, two years after its last rate increase took effect.

Included in the request is the cost to acquire another 1,931 acre-feet of water annually from the Central Arizona Project, its main water provider.

CAP has increased its charges by more than 23 percent in 2003, a Chaparral statement claims.

The utility has invested $8 million in water infrastructure projects since 2003.

"Our current rates reflect the cost of doing business in 2003," said Chaparral District Manager Robert Hanford in a statement, "and are inadequate to meet today's operating expenses and provide a reasonable rate of return."

Improvements, both planned and finished, include:

• A Fountain Hills Boulevard transmission main project, which includes 10,000 feet of main to improve water quality and fire flow.

• Replacement of an existing 120,000 gallon reservoir with a new 500,000-gallon steel reservoir and booster pump station with emergency power.

• Electrical upgrades to a well to improve reliability and safety.

• Upgrades to the disinfection system in the same well to liquid chlorine.