OJAI : 2nd Rate-Hike Plan Costlier Than 1st

As an incentive to conserve water, Southern California Water Co. on Monday offered its 2,688 Ojai customers an alternative rate-hike proposal with increases tied to water usage. But the alternative plan turned out to be more expensive than the company’s original proposal to raise rates by 41.5% over three years.

The alternative plan, which raises rates incrementally with increased water use, would raise overall rates 44.6% over three years. The average household would see even greater increases.

“It’s not what the company wants to do. It’s just an alternative,” said Susan L. Conway, the company’s regulatory affairs manager.

Conway unveiled the last-minute proposal Monday during a public hearing on the company’s original request before an administrative law judge with the California Public Utilities Commission.

Ojai City Manager Andrew Belknap joined commission staff members in withholding comment on the new plan until the company furnishes more details. Belknap said he was disappointed that neither he nor the public were given more time to review the water company’s proposal.

Final hearings on the rate-hike request will begin July 16 in Los Angeles. The commission is not expected to reach a decision to approve the new rates until late fall.

Only five Ojai residents attended the afternoon and evening public hearings that the commission held in Ojai at the request of city officials.

The water company revised its proposal after the City Council objected to the current fixed rates as being the highest in the area and not providing any incentives for water conservation.

The first plan, which could still be approved, would place its increase on the basic monthly service fee--which does not change with water consumption. The plan would increase this fee from $5.75 for an average residence to $14.70 in 1993. Customers with larger water capacity would face steeper increases.

In the alternative plan, the service fee would increase by only 5% but the billing structure would change from fixed rates to a tiered method, under which customers would pay more for higher volumes of water used.

Under the alternative, the average monthly residential water bill, now at $31.68, would rise by $10.62 in January, $5.21 in 1992 and $2.95 in 1993. The average bill at that time would be $50.83, the water company said.

In contrast, the first plan would raise the same average $31.68 bill by $6.15 the first of next year. In 1993, the bill would be increased to $44.31.