Panel Urges Water Rate Changes That Would Help Valley Users : Utilities: Proposal would allow for family and lot size, as well as climate, in determining prices.

A blue-ribbon panel has recommended that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power provide relief to water users who have large households, own big lots or live in communities with hot climates--three breaks that would benefit San Fernando Valley residents.

The mayor’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Water Rates is scheduled on Wednesday to discuss the relief that would be offered to customers with large families. The group voted last week to include lot size, family size and climate in the city’s water rate formula.

But it is still early in the process of drafting a new water rate structure, and DWP and other city officials say it is unclear what impact the proposed relief will have on the water bills of Valley customers.

“This seems to be addressing the issues of concern to the Valley,” said Karen Constine, chief of staff for Councilman Laura Chick, who represents the west Valley area. “But at this time it’s premature to say whether this will provide relief.”

Francine Oschin, an aide to Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the northwest Valley, also expressed cautious optimism over the committee recommendations. “It’s a step in the right direction,” she said.

The committee is expected to complete its work on the new rate structure by July. The proposal must then be approved by the DWP’s Board of Commissioners and the Los Angeles City Council.

The new rate system would replace a two-tiered rate structure imposed last year, which sparked a flood of complaints from Valley residents during the summer months last year, when their water bills skyrocketed.

The two-tier rate system had been designed to promote conservation by imposing a high rate for customers who use more than twice the median amount of water, and a lower rate for more frugal users. The higher rate was about 30% more expensive during the winter and about 65% more expensive during the summer.

But in the Valley, where lots tend to be larger, families bigger and summers hotter, residents deluged City Hall with complaints after they began to receive bimonthly summer bills sometimes ranging up to $900.

Under the committee’s proposal, the basic elements of the two-tier rate system would remain intact. However, DWP customers who have large families, own large lots or live in hotter climates would be allowed a larger allocation of water before the higher rates kick in.

David Cobb, an assistant deputy mayor, said the new rates are aimed at fairness for water users faced with different water needs. But he said the structure continues to promote conservation by setting some limits for water use.

Cobb said the proposed rate structure would include four categories of lot sizes and three climate zones within the city. The amount of water that a resident could use before higher rates take effect would be based on customers’ lot size category and climate zone, he said.

The exact break that would be offered to customers with large households has yet to be decided, he said.

The toughest question facing the appointed panel will be whether it can draft a rate formula that includes the relief for large lots, large families and hot climates and yet still can be easily implemented and understood.

“There are all kinds of questions they still have to answer,” Oschin said.