OJAI : PUC Plans 2 Hearings on Water Rate
At the request of the city of Ojai, the California Public Utilities Commission has scheduled two public hearings on a rate increase proposed by Southern California Water Co.
The company is seeking rates 25% higher next year for its 2,688 customers. The hike would increase an average residential water bill by $6.17 a month and would be followed by smaller increases the next two years.
The Ojai City Council formally objected to the proposed rate structure after City Manager Andrew Belknap said it would do little to encourage water conservation and would actually penalize those who are most thrifty.
The two public hearings were scheduled for June 25 at 3 and 7 p.m. in the council chambers of Ojai City Hall, 401 S. Ventura St. Attorneys for the utility and PUC staff will present their reports on the proposal to Administrative Law Judge Eric Stalder, who will also take comment from the public.
The firm offered to make unspecified modifications to the rate request in a letter to the city from Floyd Wicks, Southern California Water Co. Vice President of Operations in Los Angeles.
Wicks also asked that the council endorse the company’s attempts to swap water with Casitas Municipal Water District, which he said would benefit the company’s Ojai customers and would save 500-acre-feet per year of Lake Casitas water.
Neither the City Council nor the Casitas Water Board has publicly considered the water exchange proposal to date.
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