PIRU : 70% Water Service Rate Hike Proposed

A 70% increase in domestic water rates has been proposed for Piru by Warring Water Co., the unincorporated community’s water purveyor since 1926. If approved by the state Public Utilities Commission, the new rates will be the first increase in 10 years.

At a public hearing in Piru on Tuesday, Gary Pace, a Fillmore resident who is negotiating to buy half of the family-owned company, tried to justify the increase by citing the effects of inflation on operating expenses, maintenance costs and taxes. Pace said the company has operated with a deficit for the last five years and has lost $33,000 during the first nine months of 1990.

The company has needed to raise rates since 1985, Manager Frances Warring Talbot said. “But I was trying to sell my share and I was advised against raising rates at that time.”

A Warring family nephew, Michael Giddings, remains half-owner of the company but lives out of state and has not been directly involved in managing the operation.

Talbot, 76, is retiring after 26 years in the company. She said that state regulations and the sale of a farm irrigation portion of the company prolonged the transfer of company responsibilities to Pace and delayed the rate increase.

Basic services charges for most residents will double from $4 to $8 monthly if the PUC approves the increase. Pace outlined a new rate schedule to residents, including an increase of 22 cents per 100 cubic feet of water. The first 300 cubic feet of water will no longer be included free with the basic monthly fee. All water will be subject to the new charge of 85 cents per 100 cubic feet, Pace said. One hundred cubic feet is 748 gallons, Pace said.

Although the size of the increase shocked some residents, Daniel Paige, a senior utilities engineer with the PUC, said that given the length of time since the last rate hike, the big jump in fees should not be a complete surprise.

At the hearing Tuesday, some residents expressed concern that the increase would hurt people living on fixed incomes, and there were complaints about poor maintenance of the system in recent years.