The for-profit company feeding water to six Santa Clara County cities may agree to walk back its plan for a 22% water rate hike over three years.
State officials are in the process of developing a settlement with the San Jose Water Company that would adjust its controversial January proposal , after residents during hearings this summer questioned how working families or seniors on fixed incomes could absorb the increases.
“(The settlement) would see the rate increases more aligned with anticipated inflation,” Richard Rauschmeier, program manager of the California Public Utilities Commission’s Public Advocates Office, told San José Spotlight.
The settlement is between San Jose Water, the Public Advocates Office and Water Rate Advocates for Transparency, Equity, and Sustainability (WRATES), a ratepayer watchdog that was critical of the company’s proposal. The settlement isn’t finalized so it’s unclear how much San Jose Water will reduce its proposed increases, which would impact customers in San Jose, Cupertino, Campbell, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Los Gatos and unincorporated parts of Santa Clara County.
“The joint settlement motion and agreement are being prepared and will be filed with the commission on Aug. 19. I can share more details once this filing has been submitted,” John Tang, SJ Water’s vice president of regulatory affairs and government relations, told San José Spotlight.
March 17, 2024 
February 7, 2023 
March 25, 2022 Residents across the county are already struggling to keep up and owed San Jose Water a collective total of $14 million in past-due payments between January and March. The company, which services a 140-square-mile area, said that amount is higher than levels seen in pre-pandemic years — a trend utilities are facing nationally.
The company’s initial proposal would have had residents paying an average of $107 a month to $131 a month by 2027. The water agency also asked that a 55-cent surcharge per unit of water be added on bills for a year in 2025. The retailer blamed inflation and rising operating costs, and said the revenue would go toward maintaining and replacing water mains and removing “forever chemicals” from drinking water.
One of the proposal’s critics is Los Gatos resident Patrick Kearns, a member of WRATES, which has been prolific in pushing back against the company’s rate hike proposals in past years .
“WRATES is committed to advocate for reasonable and more importantly, affordable rates, and is preparing its comments to especially protect the affordability of rates for our low income communities, per the environmental and social justice policy created by the (utilities commission),” Kearns told San José Spotlight.
He said the settlement must reduce customers’ debt — and that any federal relief dollars should go toward that debt reduction, not the company’s general funds.
“I haven’t seen any of the details on that,” Kearns said.
San Jose Water spokesperson Pal Hollywood said the millions in unpaid bills don’t reflect the progress made with an interest-free payment plan to reduce the financial burden for customers — and the threat of water shutoffs. In May, the company received state arrearage funding that wiped $9.1 million off past due accounts.
Customers with outstanding balances of $100 or more can enroll in the payment plan known as PromisePay , which launched in April. The plan protects people from shutoffs if they stay up to date on their segmented payments and current water bill.
Our news is for everyone.
That means it needs to be free! We don’t put our news behind a paywall. Your tax-deductible donation is critical to our mission of keeping you informed.
I support San José Spotlight
Monte Sereno Councilmember Bryan Mekechuk — also a WRATES advocate — questions if the payment plan will solve people’s struggle to keep up with ever-increasing water bills.
“They are paying for a water rate they cannot afford — and that’s why they’re in arrears — and you have a payment plan for them that stretches that out, but also water rates are going up. That doesn’t make sense,” Mekechuk told San José Spotlight. “If they couldn’t afford it before, how are they going to afford it now?”
San Jose Water said past due bill data for more recent months isn’t yet publicly available, and the company wouldn’t say how many of their total customers were behind on bills.
“What I can say is that PromisePay and the California arrearage program have both made a significant and positive impact in helping our customers pay their water bills and get on a payment plan that will help them stay on track,” Hollywood said.
Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The post San Jose water rate hikes could drop appeared first on San José Spotlight .
Most Popular
Comments / 0