California Water Service Applauds California Supreme Court Decision Preserving Water Utilities’ Rights to Implement Rate-Making Mechanism that Supports Conservation, Protects Customers
July 08 2024 - 8:00PM
California Water Service (Cal Water) commends the decision issued
today by the California Supreme Court that preserves decoupling as
a rate-making mechanism, protects water utilities’ due process
rights, and enables them to maintain financial stability, all while
encouraging water conservation and helping protect customers at the
same time. The ruling was issued in response to the Low-Income
Ratepayer Assistance Phase 1 Decision (D. 20-08-047) made by the
California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in August 2020.
The court’s ruling determined that the CPUC did not follow
statutory procedures mandated by the State Legislature and rules of
the CPUC itself to provide sufficient notice that it was
considering eliminating the long-standing practice of decoupling as
a rate-making mechanism. This prevented utilities from having the
opportunity to provide evidence that supports decoupling—which
removes the link between water revenue and sales—as an effective
means to help keep water rates affordable for low-water-using
customers, while simultaneously helping keep utilities financially
stable as they promote water conservation.
“Protecting our customers is our top priority, and we are
pleased that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of water
utilities maintaining our due process rights and being able to
demonstrate the effectiveness of certain rate-making mechanisms
before regulatory decisions are made to remove them,” said Martin
A. Kropelnicki, Cal Water Chairman & CEO. “Decoupling is an
important tool that helps keep our customers’ rates affordable as
we promote conservation to help provide critical water supplies,
now and in the future.”
Cal Water was one of four regulated utilities that filed
petitions against the CPUC’s elimination of decoupling without
providing adequate notice, thus not allowing the utilities to
properly present decoupling benefits during the rate-making
process.
About California Water ServiceCalifornia Water
Service provides high-quality, reliable water utility services to
more than 2 million people statewide through 497,700 service
connections. Cal Water’s purpose is to enhance the quality of life
for customers and communities. To do so, it invests responsibly in
water and wastewater infrastructure, sustainability initiatives,
and community well-being. The company’s 1,100+ employees live
by a set of strong core values and share a commitment to protecting
the planet, caring for people, and operating with the utmost
integrity. The utility has been named one of “America’s Most
Responsible Companies” and the “World’s Most Trustworthy Companies”
by Newsweek and a Great Place to Work®. More information is
available at www.calwater.com.
Contact: Yvonne Kingman, 310-257-1434
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