THOUSAND OAKS : Water Rate Hike to Be Focus of Hearing

Customers of California-American Water Co. can comment on the utility’s proposal to increase average residential water bills by 25% at a hearing tonight in Thousand Oaks.

The utility, which is seeking its first rate increase in three years, serves 17,000 customers in Thousand Oaks, west of Moorpark Road, and in Las Posas Estates near Camarillo.

Judy Almond, California-American’s district manager in Thousand Oaks, said rates for the average residential customer would increase about 25% if the company’s request is approved. The current monthly rate of $36.66 would increase to $45.81 in 1993 then drop slightly to $45.24 in 1994.

Almond defined the average customer as someone who uses 2,200 cubic feet of water a month.

Rates for commercial customers would rise 25% and those for industrial customers about 30%, Almond said.

If approved by the state Public Utilities Commission, the rate increases would be effective Jan. 1, 1993.

A commission administrative law judge will preside over tonight’s hearing, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Thousand Oaks City Hall, 2150 W. Hillcrest Drive. Evidence in the case is scheduled to be heard July 27 in Los Angeles.

Almond predicted that consumers eventually will see water bills that are “comparable to their electric bills.”

Meanwhile, the PUC staff has recommended that the company’s requested rate increase be cut almost in half. Sazedur Rahman, a PUC staff project manager, said a staff analysis showed that California-American would earn much more than its authorized rate of return if the PUC gives the company all it is seeking.

Almond said the higher rates would allow California-American to pass on much of the $8-million cost of two new reservoirs in Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks.

She said the company also is seeking to pass on higher insurance costs and higher costs of water testing mandated by tougher environmental regulations.

In a matter unrelated to the rate case, California-American bills will go up this month because of an increase in the cost of the water it buys, Almond said.

The Calleguas Municipal Water District, which is the source of all of the water sold by California-American, recently raised its wholesale water rate, Almond said. She said the increase will amount to about 17 cents for every 100 cubic feet of water used in a month. For the average residential user, the monthly increase would be $3.74 a month.