CLEARLAKE— The Clearlake City Council, during their regular meeting at the City Hall Council Chambers Thursday, discussed a proposed request for a rate increase by Golden State Water Company. The recommended action was to provide direction to staff to submit public comment regarding the rate increase, and/or to file a motion to become a party to the proceeding.
There are technically five water districts within the city, although since the Cache Fire in 2021, only three are providing service. Konocti County Water District is in the process of annexing territory that would result in three remaining districts, including Highlands Mutual Water Company and Golden State Water Company, a privately owned company that serves approximately 2,163 customers in Clearlake, which is regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
In addition to the Clearlake customers, Golden State provides water service within more than 80 communities in California with approximately 261,000 customers and it is a subsidiary of American States Water Company that serves over one million people in nine states.
Last Aug 14, Golden State filed a proceeding with the CPUC requesting authorization to increase rates for water service throughout its area. Rates would be increased overall by 22.95% (or $87,060,700) in 2025, 4.42% (or 20,699,200) in 2026 and 4.57% (or 22,408,200) in 2027.
"We have two options. There was talk about submitting a letter, so there's a public comment option, which is what we did three years ago. The other option is to actually join the proceeding, and we talked about it a little bit last time. Water is important here in the city, as you've all been talking about. It would be good for us to go ahead and do that. We could additionally see public comment and letter of support of the consolidated district," City Manager Alan Flora concluded.
"I think I'm in support of this, of the consolidation. I am in support of us writing the letter. I don't see where it doesn't benefit us. Rancho Cordova may be the first but not us, but it doesn't seem like it's going to harm them too much," Councilmember Joyce Overton said.
"I would say I would support the merger. I still think we shouldn't be involved in this process though. We have incredibly high rates and we need full transparency on the process," Vice Mayor David Claffey declared.
"I also concur with Councilmember Joyce Overton and Vice Mayor Claffey. Even if it's just three years of frozen rates, better than a 40% increase, which we could possibly get if we did. If we didn't get that, we know CPUC will do what they want. I would also like for us to be involved in the process going forward in whatever manner we can. Anything we can do to try to reduce the rates. We live in a very beautiful area. Unfortunately, our water rates are so high. Most folks can't afford a yard and personal property improvements to really beautify a city and that's one of the things on the top of our strategic plan that we would like to see done," Councilmember Russ Cremer added.
"I'm in favor of continuing to monitor this. I think there's a way we can be part of their procedures. I still like to see more flow data. If we did an analysis a couple of years ago, at that point, Golden State is obviously the most expensive one by approximately $500 per year per customer. Hopefully, this will help with that," said Mayor Dirk Slooten.
The Clearlake City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month at the Clearlake City Hall Council Chambers, located at 14050 Olympic Drive, Clearlake. Agendas are available prior to the meetings according to the Brown Act. Minutes are available following approval and can be found online at clearlake.ca.us/143/City-Council.
No comments:
Post a Comment