On June 5th,
2012, Mr. Dick Kennedy of Waterview Cluster attended the RELAC Rate
Hearing in Richmond, VA before the State Corporation Commission [SCC].
For those residents just becoming familiar with the controversies
surrounding the RELAC system, the SCC is the governing body which
regulates utilities in Virginia. Mr. Kennedy testified as a user upset
with the unreasonably high cost of the system and its effectiveness.
The hearing lasted from about 10:00 AM until 3:30 PM.
The result of this hearing was that the SCC Staff and AQUA agreed by stipulation to a REDUCED rate increase from AQUA’s original request of $108,775 to $78,000 (approx. a 15% increase from our current rate) that will be in effect as an interim rate for the rest of 2012.
The SCC staff questioned AQUA at length and in detail on the performance output by AQUA’s records and AQUA’s records on customer complaints, which appeared to have clear deficiencies.
Mr. Kennedy also questioned the issue of their Aqua’a proposed Cooling Tower installation, to which AQUA responded that they have not decided yet to in stall them. Aqua stated the installation would cost $250,000 to $400,000. It may be that AQUA America owns the cooling towers and are proposing to sell them to AQUA RELAC, but this is not confirmed.
The case, PUE-2011-00130 can be tracked on line at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case
The result of this hearing was that the SCC Staff and AQUA agreed by stipulation to a REDUCED rate increase from AQUA’s original request of $108,775 to $78,000 (approx. a 15% increase from our current rate) that will be in effect as an interim rate for the rest of 2012.
The SCC staff questioned AQUA at length and in detail on the performance output by AQUA’s records and AQUA’s records on customer complaints, which appeared to have clear deficiencies.
Mr. Kennedy also questioned the issue of their Aqua’a proposed Cooling Tower installation, to which AQUA responded that they have not decided yet to in stall them. Aqua stated the installation would cost $250,000 to $400,000. It may be that AQUA America owns the cooling towers and are proposing to sell them to AQUA RELAC, but this is not confirmed.
The case, PUE-2011-00130 can be tracked on line at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/case