Big water bills could hit small North Coast communities

<p>Residents in a handful of tiny North Coast communities are bracing for a regulatory battle over a proposal to significantly boost their water rates.</p><p>The biggest potential increase would hit the tiny coastal hamlet of Dillon Beach in northwestern Marin County. By 2011 customers there could see their average monthly bills jump nearly 169 percent to $116.</p><p>If approved, the water rates for Dillon Beach could become among the highest in California, according to an official for California Water Service Co., which supplies water to part of that community and operates several other systems on the North Coast.</p><p>Jeff Young, who has homes in both Dillon Beach and Santa Rosa, on Thursday called the proposed rate hike “totally outrageous.”</p><p>“There’s got to be stuff that’s ridiculous in there if it’s that large an increase,” Young said. He plans to testify at rate hearings in the semi-official role of “intervener,” an advocate for his community in the state regulatory process.</p><p>The proposed rate hikes, filed this month with the California Public Utilities Commission, would amount to nearly a 90 percent jump in the bills for Russian River residents outside Guerneville and Duncans Mills. If approved, the average bills for the river service area and a tiny system in southwest Santa Rosa would rise to nearly $71 a month.</p><p>The average bills for residents of Lucerne in Lake County would jump nearly 57 percent to $30 a month.</p><p>Representatives for the water company, commonly known as Cal Water, said the state commission will review the proposal and may set a lower rate increase than requested. For example, Cal Water’s last rate hike for Dillon Beach, granted in 2006, was limited to 150 percent, scaled back from the company’s original request of nearly 323 percent.</p><p>Cal Water officials maintained that their latest rate proposal represents what it takes to reliably provide safe drinking water to the small communities.</p><p>“The costs of providing service in these areas are higher, and there are fewer customers to share those costs,” said spokeswoman Shannon Dean.</p><p>The publicly traded company, based in San Jose, serves about 465,000 homes and businesses statewide, but only 1,900 in this region, amounting to about 3,000 people on the North Coast.</p><p>Any rate hike likely would be dampened by an increase in an ongoing subsidy program. For Dillon Beach, the company has asked that the average customer would receive a increased subsidy of $45, said Tom Smegal, Cal Water’s vice president for regulatory matters. Without that subsidy, paid for by other Cal Water customers, the average bill there could be as high as $161 a month.</p><p>Even with the subsidy, Smegal said, the water bills for Dillon Beach customers might be second in the state only to residents of Catalina Island.</p><p>Young maintained that a gallon of water from his faucet likely costs more than anywhere in California. The average Dillon Beach customer uses only 2,300 gallons of water each month, considerably less than a typical suburban home.</p><p>The proposed new rates are based partly on recovering expenses for system upgrades, including several thousand feet of new water mains. As well, a small water system off Santa Rosa’s Stony Point Road is planned to receive a new treatment plant that will cost almost $1 million, Smegal said.</p><p>The company plans to host workshops on the rate proposal sometime this fall.</p><p>An administrative law judge has been assigned the rate case but has yet to put forth a schedule for hearings, said Andrew Kotch, a spokesman for the state commission.</p><p>Cal Water predicted public hearings would begin late this year or in early 2010.</p>