Operator: The public comments on the Golden State
Water Company's General Rates Case Application
on this day, Thursday, May 27, 2021.
(Interpreter speaking in Spanish)
-: Thank you very much Operator,
and thank you, Interpreter, too.
Shannon, are you prepared to begin at this point?
Shannon: I'm ready, thank you.
-: All right, we'll go on the record right now.
The time is 1:31 PM, on Thursday, May 27th, 2021.
The record will be opened.
The Commission will come to order.
This is a remote Public Participation Hearing
on the Golden State Water Company's
General Rate Case Application for rates to be charged
in the following years:
2022, 2023 and 2024.
The application number is A20-07-012.
Today we will be focused on Golden State customers
in what is referred to as Golden State's
region three rate area.
Your monthly bills will indicate
in which region you are located.
If your bill indicates that you reside in region one
or region two, we held those Public Participation Hearings
for your regions on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Tuesday's hearings were devoted to region two,
and Wednesday's hearings were devoted to region one.
There is no reason for you to be concerned
if you were unable to attend.
You can access an English recording of those hearings
by going to the following website, admin monitor.com.
Let me spell that for everyone.
A-d-m as in Mary, i-n as in Nancy,
m as in Mary, o-n as Nancy, i-t-o-r.com.
After you access that website, click on the link
for the California Public Utilities Commission
and scroll down to either May 25th or May 26th
to access the appropriate hearing for your rate region.
If you intend to make a comment,
and you missed the opportunity to do so
on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week,
you can still submit written comments
by going to this part of the Commission's website
www.cpuc.ca.gov/pph,
and then scroll down to the link for proceedings papers.
That link will take you to the formal docket sheet
where you can click on the tab entitled public comments
and there you can leave a written comment.
You're welcome to stay connected
to the hearing we are conducting today
if you come from region one or region two,
but be aware that we are going to be focused entirely
on the issues related to rate increases
in region three only today.
My name is Charles Ferguson,
and I am the assigned Administrative Law Judge
for this proceeding.
It's my job to collect comments and suggestions
from you today and be mindful of them
as I assemble the evidence as to whether
and how much your rate should change
for the three years of this particular rate cycle.
After sampling the record,
I will then write a proposed decision and submit it
to the five CPUC Commissioners for them to vote on.
It will take the vote of three Commissioners
for my proposed decision to become final.
Any of the Commissioners can prepare an alternate decision
to my decision, but if they do so, it has to be based
on the record that I am assembling for this proceeding.
So the purpose of today's hearing is
for us at the Commission to hear from you
the customers of Golden State Water about how you feel
and what you think about its application
for an increase in your rates.
To help you formulate your opinions,
the Commission has prepared fact sheets
and Golden State has delivered those fact sheets to you
either electronically or by US mail.
These fact sheets will help you exactly how
much new revenue Golden State is requesting
in the aggregate from all of you in region three.
If you haven't received a CPUC fact sheet
or if you misplaced the one you received,
you can still access one on the CPUC's website.
Go to the CPUC website, www.cpuc.ca.gov,
enter the words public advisor.
That's a-d-v-i-s-o-r in the search bar.
On the right right hand side of the home page
for the Public Advisor, you will find a link
for Public Participation Hearings.
Click on that link and scroll
to the Golden State Water Company rate proceeding.
And you will find the CPUC's fact sheet
for all three regions of Golden State system.
Yours is region three and click on that.
Even if you have your fact sheet,
it's worth remembering these instructions
for how to access it electronically
in case any of your neighbors or friends
in the same region have lost theirs
or didn't receive theirs.
You can also obtain a fact sheet for region three
from Golden State itself by addressing
an email to Golden State at 2022grc@gswater.com.
Include your billing address in your email so that
the proper fact sheet can be sent back that to you.
And finally, if you don't have internet access,
and you're listening today by phone only,
you can still get it a copy of the fact sheet
for your specific rate area by calling Golden State Water
at the following number, 877-288-8816.
I'm going to repeat that one more time.
877-288-8816.
The fact sheets will help you formulate your thoughts
about the proposed rate increases in your rate area.
You should begin your analysis by collecting all
of your old water bills from the year 2020.
Those bills will tell you how much water you used each month
during the year 2020.
Use those precise amounts and then the fact sheet
that the CPUC has prepared for you.
And you can, you will be able to project how
much it will cost you to use exactly the same amount
of water in each month in 2022.
Well, excuse me, you'll be able to calculate your costs
to use the exact same amount of water
in each month in 2022, 2023 and 2024,
as you used in 2020,
but only if we at the Commission completely approve
of everything that Golden State Water
is asking us to approve of.
That doesn't happen all that often
that we approve of absolutely everything,
but at least with the fact sheet and your old bills,
you can project a worst case scenario
for yourself in terms of what you're going to pay
if we did approve of everything.
You should make a separate calculation
for each individual month, January through December,
in each year, 2022 through 2024.
Begin each month with a fixed service charge
which you can find on your chart.
Your fact sheet has a chart on page two
that will show you what the service
charge will be in each one of those three years.
The fixed service charge is independent of your water usage.
Whether you use no water or lots of water,
the monthly service is a once a month
fixed charge that you must pay.
Add to the usage charge.
Sorry, add to the service charge the usage charge
for the amount of water you used in the same month in 2020.
Usage charges are expressed in hundreds of cubic feet.
100 cubic feet of water or one CCF
is equal to 748 gallons of water.
Use the column that is entitled effective January 1, 2022
to project your usage charge for 2022 of January of 2022.
The proposed rate structure for all of 2022
through 2024 is shown on the fact sheet.
So you can make the same calculations
for each of the next two years of the rate cycle.
Throughout the whole three years,
the cheapest water is the first 13 CCF's that you use.
That is, that will hold true if we approve
of that particular rate structure,
namely 13 CCF's in the lowest, cheapest cost tier.
The price increases for the next 31 CCF's
and gets even higher for consumption beyond that point.
Just remember to add the usage charge
and the fixed service charge together
and you'll get a projection of what you may have to pay
in January 22, January, 2022.
If you make these calculations for each individual month,
you can compare what you would have to pay
for water in 2022 if the CPUC grants all
of Golden State's proposed rate increases for your region.
Now there is a way to avoid paying for new rate increases
and that is simply to trim your water usage in those months
when you typically use the most water.
The CPUC has provided on page three of your fact sheet
a graph that shows you how your water consumption compares
to all the customers in your specific rate area.
On average, taking into account all 12 months
of the year, an average customer
in your rate area uses about 12 CCF's of water.
That's right near the top of the lowest cost
tier as proposed by Golden State.
It's impressive that the average customer
in your region stays within the first proposed rates here.
However, if you're using more than average customer,
more than the average customers
in your region use in a month,
then perhaps you should consider reducing your water usage
even though you can't afford a rate increase.
If you're looking for a way of avoiding a rate
increase all together,
you can simply make calculations using 10, 15
or 20% less water in year 2022 than you used in 2020.
And using the fact sheet, you can calculate
what you would pay under the increased rates
for using less water than you previously used.
And the Commission encourages you of course
to use less water than you previously used
given the extreme drought conditions that we seem
to be facing right now.
Once you finished your projections and you can,
once you've finished your projections,
please let us know what you think
about the proposed rate increase.
Some of you may conclude that you would,
you can reduce your water usage
by enough to avoid any change
in the amount of money you actually pay for water.
In that case, you may feel comfortable
about the rates increasing in order to pay
for improvements in water quality per service
but others of you will be disturbed
by how difficult it is to cut your water usage
and you will be opposed to any increases at all.
Frankly, we want to hear from both of you.
I'm going to let both the representative
from Golden State Water and the representative
from the Public Advocates, your representatives
discuss the actual reasons for the requests
for rate increases in your particular region.
They will have different views of whether or not
the need for capital improvements
and additional employees, et cetera are necessary,
but it's best that you hear from them,
and I will be allowing them a time to do that.
So before we do that, I'd like to allow
a particular representative from the CPUC
in our Public Advisor's Office
speak to you to give you an idea
of other ways that you can participate
in this proceeding and express your views.
So let me invite the representative
from the Public Advisor's Office to make comments right now.
-: Thank you, Your Honor.
Welcome everyone, and thank you for joining us today.
My name is Alison Brown,
and I'm the Public Advisor with the Commission.
The Public Advisor's Office assists
and advises the public with participation
in Commission proceedings.
We are here as a resource for you.
First, I want to thank you all again
for participating as the judge and Commissioner,
the judge just stated, public participation
and input is essential to the Commission's
decision making process.
This is your opportunity to be heard
and to hare your thoughts on the application
with the Administrative Law Judge
and the assigned Commissioner.
If you have specific questions about this application
or your service, please reach out
to the Public Advisor's Office.
That email address is public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov.
You can also call us at 1-866-849-8390,
or you can visit the CPUC or Golden State
websites for more information.
Second, if you were anyone you know,
is not able to make a comment today,
as the judge said, there are several
ways to become involved.
If you wish to find more information on becoming a party,
subscribing to this proceeding or submitting comments
via the docket card or email, please go to our website
www.cpuc.ca.gov,
or email the public advisor.
Again, that address is public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov.
All of this information is available
on the notice you received for this.
And if you are watching this it's available on the screen.
We look forward to your comments today.
Thank you again for joining us.
Judge.
-: Yep, thank you very much, Ms. Brown.
Now I'd like the representative
of Golden State Water to speak for a few minutes
and explain the reasons for the rate increases
that the company is asking for, Mr. Switzer.
-: Thank you, Judge Ferguson.
Good afternoon, everybody.
My name is Keith Switzer.
I work for Golden State Water Company.
I am the Vice President of the company responsible
for managing the Regulatory Affairs Department.
My department is responsible for filing
the General Rate Case Application
which is the subject of this Public Participation Hearing.
I want to welcome you to this virtual hearing,
and I want to thank all of our customers who
took the time to join us this afternoon.
We look forward to hearing from you.
You just heard Judge Ferguson provide a general overview
of Golden State Water's application
and the purpose of today's probably participation hearing
in the Commission's decision-making process.
I'm going to take just a few minutes to expand
on some of judge Ferguson's comments.
A General Rate Case is the process that establishes
the company's overall budget
or what we more commonly referred to as our
revenue requirement to operate the water system
in a manner that will allow us to provide safe
and reliable water service.
The rate case also establishes the rates
that we would charge for that service.
The rates are set in the rate case
at a level that will generate the budget
or the revenue requirement that has been approved
by the Commission in the case.
And it will generate that revenue at the forecasted
levels of water usage by you our customers.
The General Rate Case process is intended to be
an open process where different parties
are welcomed and encouraged,
or input, I'm sorry, from different parties
is welcomed and encouraged.
Your participation here this afternoon
is an important part of that process.
As customers of Golden State Water,
you have received notice, you received notice
that Golden State filed its rate case application
in July of 2020.
That application requested changes
in our revenue requirement and our rates
to begin in January 2022.
The Commission's final decision on our application
will set the revenue requirement
and the corresponding rates for a three-year period,
calendar years, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
A quick word about the timing of the application.
Golden State Water is obligated by law to file
a General Rate Case Application once every three years.
The Commission has established a preset schedule
for the date of our filing.
The Commission's filing schedule
for rate cases enables the Commission to process
a General Rate Case once every three years
for all nine of the large class A
water utilities in the state.
It's a tight schedule.
The Commission has to process essentially
three rate cases every year.
And that is why the timing of each application is mandated
and controlled by the Commission,
enabling the Commission to manage the workload
for processing all of these cases.
For Golden State Water, our last rate case application
was filed in July 2017, and the Commission's decision
established the rates for the calendar years,
2019, 2020 and 2021.
The filing of our rate case last July,
in July of last year was the first step
in a process that will take at least 18 months to complete.
Once we filed the application,
the Office of Public Advocates begins an eight month process
of reviewing the application, conducting discovery
and ultimately issuing their own report
with their own recommendations to the Commission
regarding our 2022 revenue requirement.
Next steps in the process includes settlement negotiations,
mediation, evidentiary hearings,
and then ultimately Judge Ferguson will be tasked
with issuing a proposed decision that will address
and resolve all of the issues in the application.
And then finally, the five Commissioners will vote
on the final decision at an open meeting.
Today's hearing is for customers
in our region three rate making district.
Golden State has requested an increase
in the region three annual revenue requirement
for 2022 of $14.6 million compared
to the 2021 annual revenue requirement.
There will be additional increases in 2023 and 2024
of 6.9 and $7.1 million.
What are the reasons for these increases?
It's primarily due to the need to invest
in new infrastructure.
Things like new and replacement pipeline,
supply related projects such as new or replacement wells
and new and replacement facilities to treat the water.
Golden State Water has proposed approximately
$147 million of new infrastructure projects in region three
over the next three years.
All of those projects are contingent
upon Commission approval of the Commission,
which as a part of this case.
And let me elaborate just a little bit
about how the rates are set for the infrastructure projects.
As we make those investments, we do not recover
the full cost of the investments right away.
We fund the investments with a combination
of investor money, which is raised through issuing stocks
to investors and borrowed money,
which is raised through the company issuing bonds.
Once the investments in infrastructure are made,
the cost of those assets are recovered
in rates over an extended period of time,
anywhere from five to 40 or more years,
depending upon the life of the asset.
As those investments are made,
what gets incorporated into rates,
as I said, is not the full cost of the investment
but rather it's the depreciation of the assets
which is a way to repay investors
for the investments that were made and the carrying costs
for the funds that have been used to finance the investment,
the interest on the debt and the dividends to investors
who have provided funding.
There is also a projected increase
in the cost of purchased water.
As a portion of our water supply in region three
is water that we purchase from third parties,
such as agencies of the Metropolitan Water District.
So how does all of thiS, these big numbers
translate to the impact on a monthly bill?
The answer to that question will vary depending
upon a number of factors, but one of the most
important determinants is your monthly water usage.
Since the majority of most bills is attributable
to the monthly usage charges.
The monthly bill for Golden State Water charges
on a residential customer in region three
with a five eighths inch meter,
which is the most common in region three,
and using 12 CCF of month of water,
which is the average usage amount
for residential customers in region three,
given those parameters, the average bill would increase
from $65.20 cents at current rates
to $72.62 cents in '22 at our proposed rates
which is an increase of $7.42 a month.
If you would like to contact Golden State Water directly
with a question during today's Public Participation Hearing,
you can do so either by phone or by email.
Golden State Water has set up, okay.
Golden State Water has set up a special call
in number for customers who would like to speak
to a company representative about the rate case application.
That number, which is shown here on this screen is
1-877-288-8816.
Golden State Water employees are standing
by at that number to respond
to your questions about the application.
Or if you prefer to ask your question by email,
we've set up a special email address specifically
for questions regarding the rate case application.
That email, which is also being shown here on the screen is
2022GRC@gswater.com.
Before concluding my comments today
I want to speak to the extraordinary and difficult
circumstances that we find ourselves in right now.
I'm very proud to say that Golden State Water employees
have been working hard throughout the pandemic,
making sure that you our customers
have continued to receive uninterrupted,
safe and reliable water service during this time.
I also wanted to share that we recognize many
of our customers are experiencing financial
and economic hardships hardships
during this pandemic situation.
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,
our customer service team has remained available 24/7
to help customers answer questions and solve problems.
Golden State has put in place protections to ensure
that customers continue to receive safe
and reliable service also included in our rate case
is a provision to offer a monthly credit
on the bill to income qualifying customers
who meet specific income criteria.
If you go to our website www.gswater.com,
you will find a link on the home page
for emergency disaster relief programs
and our low-income customer assistance program.
Those links will describe the various protections
and programs that are available.
With that, I will conclude my comments today.
Again, let me thank you for taking
the time to join this meeting,
and I look forward to hearing your comments.
Thank you, Judge Ferguson.
-: Thank you, Mr. Switzer.
And for those of you who are listening closely
to what I said previously and what Mr. Switzer just said,
and also looking at fact sheets,
I want to emphasize something that Mr. Switzer said,
but it bears repeating by me.
When you look at the reasons in our fact sheet
for the, which is our understanding
of what Golden State Water is asking for,
you won't find the large number I believe it was
$145 million worth of investments capital
that Mr. Switzer referred to.
And you will see on her face sheet that the numbers there
in terms of the reasons don't add up to $145 million.
And the reason for that is just as Mr. Switzer said,
we are not trying to portray in the fact sheet,
the total capital investment necessary,
but rather what portion of it and its carrying costs
would be inputted into your rates during this rate cycle.
So that's why there is a distinction between that large
number and the number that we have on our fact sheet.
There's also a discrepancy, not a discrepancy,
but a difference in the increases in revenue that
will be needed to be recovered in region three.
And we used a comparison between the year 2020
and what's being asked for,
and so in 2022, the difference was the difference
between 2020 and 2022 is a $19.14 million
increase in revenue.
But Mr. Switzer pointed out that it was $14 million
when one compares year 2021 rates
and revenue needs to the revenue need for 2022.
So there's not, we're not really
representing different numbers.
There's no need for concern.
It's just because when we prepared our fact sheets for you
we were using them numbers from 2020
because the work was being,
the calculations were being done in 2020.
Whereas the more recent calculations
are what Mr. Switzer has been using.
We do have a comparison between 2021
and 2022 proposals rates of billing rates
that is what appears in your bill that
matches what Mr. Switzer talked about.
And you can see in the language underneath the chart
on page two of your fact sheet, that the average cost
of the projection of what the change would be
in the actual billing numbers you receive in your bill,
are what we have in our fact sheet
comports exactly with what Mr. Switzer
just described to you.
So I just wanted to make that clear
because we often get questions from the public
as to why the fact sheet is different from what
the representative of the utility spoke about.
And it's largely because the calculations
are being made between different years
or at different times during the year.
It's not an invocation that either one
of us is trying to, has made a big mistake
or is trying to misrepresent anything.
It's just because we're selecting
different times to compare.
With that, the next speaker will be Mr. Victor Chan,
who is from the Public Advocates Office in the CPUC
which is different from the Public Advisor's Office.
You heard Ms. Brown speak earlier in this meeting
from the Public Advisor's Office.
The Public Advocates Office is a different office entirely,
and is your representative for your views to be expressed
during the collection of all the evidence into the record.
So Mr. Chan, it's your opportunity
to address the same thing,
region three and the proposed rate increase.
-: Thank you, Judge Ferguson,
and good afternoon, everyone and the members of the public.
My name is Victor Chan.
I am the Project Manager representing
the Public Advocates Office.
I, along with my team are responsible
for reviewing Golden State Water Company's
General Rate Case Application in this proceeding.
Today, I'm going to give a overall statement
regarding our role in this proceeding,
as well as our major recommendation
you know from the team.
The Public Advocates Office,
or Cal Advocates is an independent office
within the California Public Utilities Commission
that represents the interests of rate payers.
Our statutory mission is to obtain
the lowest possible rate for service consistent
with reliable and safe service levels.
Cal Advocates has a multi-disciplinary staff
with expertise in engineering,
economics, accounting and finance.
Cal Advocates views do not necessarily reflect
those of the Commission.
In February, 2021, Cal Advocates served is testimony
on Golden State Water Company's
general rates application number 2007-012
in which Golden State Water Company requests
rate increase for regions one, two, and three service areas.
Cal Advocates' testimony presents analysis
and recommendations on a wide range of issues,
including capital investment, sales forecast,
rate design, conservation, operating expenses and taxes.
And compared to Golden State Water Company's
requested 14.51% increase for its region three service area
in tax year 2022, Cal Advocates recommends
no more than a 4.09% increase in revenue
on average system rates and the following are
some of our majors specific recommendations.
One, authorized funding for a more moderate pipeline
replacement program.
Two, reduce Golden State Water Company's
proposed salary increases as well as new positions.
Three, decrease expenses and capital investment
from Golden State Water Company's, general office,
and four, remove unfinished projects that are not
providing rate payer benefits.
Our, the Public Advocates' testimony
are uploaded to the CPUC website,
and they can be found at
www.publicadvocate.cpuc.ca.gov.
You can look forward to link to Cal Advocate reports
on GFWUC 2020 GRC application.
With that, I conclude my remarks
and look forward to hearing your comments.
-: Thank you very much, Mr. Chan.
I appreciate that.
Okay, I think we're gonna go
off the record here for, until 2:15.
It is now 2:07,
and we're going to go off the record and resume at 2:15.
(instrumental music)
All right, we will be back on the record now,
if the time is 2:15 PM, and we're resuming
a Public Participation Hearing
for region three of Golden State Water Company
and its General Rate Case.
Now is the time for we at the Commission
to hear from you the public.
If you would like to make a public comment
then press star one on your phone,
and the operator will add you into the lineup of speakers.
Based on the number of speakers,
I will allot three minutes a piece to each of you.
If there are too many of you speaking,
then I may have to reduce that amount.
But as of now, I would like to give you each three minutes.
A chime will sound at the end of the three minutes,
and that means it's time for the next person to speak.
I want to remind you to speak slowly and clearly
so that the court reporter can capture
everything that you say.
Before you begin your comment, please state your name,
your full name, and spell your full name,
and please it would help if you would just tell us
what city you reside in.
It's gonna be best if you speak directly
into your phone and please avoid having your phone
on speaker when you're providing your comment.
So let me ask the operator at this point
whether or not we have anyone in the queue for speaking?
Operator: Yes sir, we do have a few people
that have queued up.
Judge Ferguson: Okay, so let's start
with a three minute time limit.
And would you call the first comment, first speaker please?
Operator: Yes, thank you.
Our first comment comes from Peter Kavounas.
Your line is open.
Judge Ferguson: Go ahead, Mr. Kavounas.
Peter: Thank you, Judge Ferguson.
I appreciate the opportunity to share
my thoughts and feelings with you.
Hi, my name is Peter, p-e-t-e-r.
Last name Kavounas, k-a-v-o-u-n-a-s.
I'm a resident of Claremont, California.
I have lived there since 2016.
I'm calling to offer my thoughts and views
on this proposed increase by Golden State.
I will start by sharing with you
my thoughts on water rates are that based
on my personal experience,
that water rates should reflect the locality where
water is being provided through a retail service.
Those rates should reflect,
reasonably reflect the supply mix, the system
and infrastructure age, the topography,
the labor costs, local rules and regulations.
Those are the drivers that creates
the expenses necessary to service.
Supply mix, of course, depending on what
supply the cost of the supply,
any water quality issues and availability issues.
The system and infrastructure age dictates
the maintenance repair and replacement needs of a system.
The topography dictates the pump lists that are necessary.
Labor costs of course are a big driver,
and of course, local rules and regulations.
Why am I saying this?
I'm saying this as you can obviously tell,
in that, I'm trying to make the point
that Golden State is already higher
than all the nearby retail providers.
I just took my recent bill, 18 CCF bill,
with a one inch meter, our neighbors directly
to the east, Monte Vista Water District.
Golden State is 9.7% higher for the same usage.
Directly to the west of us is the city of Pomona.
Golden State is 15% higher.
And our other neighbors to the east in North Upland,
Golden State is 25% higher.
And so while I understand the local comparisons
will always have a winner and a loser,
somebody whose rates are perhaps lower
and somebody whose rates are perhaps higher,
Golden State has the distinction of being
at the very top and asking for a very significant increase.
Now I understand the rates are built on a fashion,
moving forward in a blockchain fashion.
So rates can only increase from where they've been.
And so I'm calling to ask, to tell you that I appreciate
Mr. Victor Chan for taking a close look.
I would encourage you to not approve the requested
increase of 10.74% since the rates
are already much higher.
And I have to say, I am in terms of how I feel,
I am befuddled and perplexed by how an agency
that can be that much higher,
still have needs unmet to warrant such a high increase.
With that judge, my three minutes are up.
I really appreciate your time
and all the staff working on these rate increases.
Thank you.
Judge Ferguson: Thank you.
I appreciate the fact that you assembled all that data.
It's very helpful to have such data.
So thank you very much for doing that.
Operator, you can put on the next speaker, please.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Judy Hampton.
Your line is open.
Judge Ferguson: Go ahead, Ms. Hampton.
Judy: Hi, my name is Judy Hampton.
My husband and I have lived in Covina, California
for almost 42 years now.
And as the previous caller--
Judge Ferguson: Wait, wait, wait just a minute.
First, give us the spelling of your name please.
Judy: Oh, I'm sorry.
My name is Judy, j-u-d as in David, y as in you.
Last name Hampton, h as in Henry, a as in apple,
m as in Mary, p as in Peter, t as in Tom,
o as an office, n as in Nancy.
Judge Ferguson: Thank you.
-: Okay. -: Go ahead.
Judy: Okay, so my question is
that I agree with the previous caller
that it seems that our rates seem to be more,
higher than any of the areas,
the surrounding areas around us.
We are constantly getting any increase.
My husband and I have lived in a Covina area
here for almost 42 years,
and it seemed like our rates are constantly increasing.
And like you said earlier, or someone said earlier,
it seems like it's a three-year period.
This I don't understand.
And you're talking about the infrastructure
and the water improvements and the water treatment costs.
Why is it that our costs are exceeding
everyone else's in the immediate area?
Plus the fact the Biden administration is also
trying to pass this infrastructure bill now.
Will that have some effect on the quantity?
I mean, won't, they be giving funds to us
to better treat our water and to better build
our infrastructure to the water treatment
and also the water supply?
I just think like we're on a fixed income
and constantly everything is going up,
but our paychecks are not going up.
So I'm really kind of taken a back
by this constant increase.
It seems like in Covina all we do
is pay, pay, pay, pay, pay.
I don't know if everybody feels that way,
but I'm a little upset about it.
So I don't know how many minutes that is,
but that's what I have to say.
Now you're going to respond to these questions
that we're providing later on, is that what is?
We'll come back and we'll be able to print something
out to see how the response is?
Is that how it is?
That's all my questions.
Judge Ferguson: Yes, I will a decision
and propose that decision be adopted
by the entire body of Commissioners.
There are five Commissioners.
That, my proposed decision will be public.
As soon as I finish it, I put it on the website,
and you can access it and see what I said.
And then you have to wait to see
whether or not the Commission adopts it or not.
If they do adopt it, it will be reprinted
as a final decision and that also will be
on the website and you can see it,
and I will say that you raise a very interesting question
about President Biden's infrastructure proposal.
Of course, it's still just a proposal.
The Congress hasn't adopted it yet,
but it's an interesting question.
So I appreciate your putting that question in the comments.
Judy: Thank you.
And also remember us folks that are on a fixed income
you know, everything's going up but our pay checks,
and some of the people that are working,
I know they feel the same way.
We just came out of a pandemic.
Can you guys cut us some slack, give us a break.
I mean we won't have no money.
All we got is all we got.
So I appreciate your listening to me.
And I thank you for having this forum
and allowing us to voice our opinion.
Thank you. -: Well, thank you.
Thank you for coming and giving your comment.
I, we appreciate it. -: Okay.
Judge Ferguson: Operator, go ahead
and put on the next speaker, please.
Operator: Our next speaker is Karin Spruill.
Your line is open.
Karin: Hi, my name is Karin Spruill, k-a-r-i-n.
Last name Spruill, s-p-r-u-i-l-l.
I live in La Palma,
and also the first two speakers were so good,
and I appreciate you both for speaking up.
And I would like to say that yeah, the rate increases
are pretty outrageous percentage wise
as our rates are already higher than those around us.
And I take exception to the fact that somebody said
if you want to lower your rate, then use less water.
That I find it pretty outrageous
as I'm already being conservative
because your rates are too high to begin with.
How about if the business trims the fat on their operation?
How about if the water company becomes more efficient
and better organized and cuts back on maybe
unnecessary riffraff or whatever
they're spending their money on
and just do their business better so that they
don't have to keep putting the costs on the customers?
And like the previous speaker spoke up, I'm just retired
on Social Security and I'm looking at every single penny,
and the amount of money that you're talking
about raising the rates is just outrageous.
So yeah, we are all trying to conserve water
because the price is too high to begin with.
So what can the Department Of Water, the Golden State,
what can they do on their end to lower the cost?
That's what I have to say.
Thank you so much for the time.
Judge Ferguson: Okay, thank you very much, Ms. Spruill.
I wanna just take responsibility
for the comment you referenced,
but what my actual comment was,
if you are using more than the average amount of water,
more than the what the average customer is using
in throughout region three to think
seriously about cutting back.
And we would do that anyway because of the severe drought
that we are likely to end up in this summer,
and so it is more for people who are using more
than the average in your region that I'm speaking to.
And that's why I was suggesting that cut back
might be an order for them
but thank you for your comments.
You're well-spoken and I appreciate your giving them to us.
Now, before the next speaker, I'd like to ask the operator
do we have speakers in the Spanish language line?
Operator: No, sir.
I'm showing no speakers on the Spanish line.
-: Okay, then let's go back to the English speaking line
and you can put the next speaker on please.
Operator: Thank you, sir.
Our next speaker is Marc Gonzales.
Your line is open.
Judge Ferguson: Go ahead Mr. Gonzales.
Marc: Yeah, thank you.
Can you hear me okay?
Judge Ferguson: Yes, we can.
Just spell your full name
and tell us where you're from.
Marc: Yes, spelling is m-a-r-c.
Last name is g-o-n-z-a-l-e-s,
and from San Dimas, California.
I apologize if I'm not calling from the right area
but this is the only time I could get away
from work and call.
Anyway, I want to thank you for taking my call today
and for listening.
You know, I was going through the public comments
on the Public Utility Commission website there,
and there wasn't one comment that was for an increase.
I mean, clearly that should tell you quite a bit.
I've spoken to a lot of citizens in my city of San Dimas
and very unhappy about the increase,
especially since we had an increase
or Golden State Water had an increase from the years
2015 through 2017 already, I believe 17%.
So we were, my wife and I were very outraged
at the consideration for another increase
right after another, a previous increase with,
in the middle of a pandemic where my income's been affected.
I know I'm not alone in that.
Everybody's watching what they're spending these days.
The economy is growing, but it's precarious.
And I think in general, it could,
something bad could happen in the next few months.
We just don't know, right.
But my point is, if we're living in a means,
fixed income of some sort,
then the water company should do a better job
with what they have coming in.
It strikes me that a for-profit water company,
continually raises rates, has no consideration
for their customers and continually raises rates
and other nonprofit water districts are
maintaining good quality water in our neighboring cities
at very low, much lower rates.
So that strikes me as very apparent.
Maybe there's a Board of Directors that they
are trying to appease instead of their customers.
That's really all I want to say.
I really think that in the middle of a pandemic,
we really have to consider that people are still hurting
and it's precarious to even consider
raising rates at this point,
and thank you for taking my time today.
I really appreciate that.
Judge Ferguson: Thank you for your comment.
And I just want to point out based on what you said,
yes, we have quite a few comments on the website
and we look for more comments from more people.
And I set aside time every Friday at the end of the week.
All of the comments are forwarded to me and I sit down
and read all of them at that particular
point in time, Friday afternoon.
So if you have further comments or anybody else
wants to make a written comment, then just put it
on the public comment tab of the docket sheet.
We explained that was, that could be done.
If you've forgotten, then simply contact
the Public Advisor's Office.
The number is on the telephone number
and website email address are on the screen right now.
Marc: I really appreciate
your considerations today, too, Judge.
I know is that it's a tedious process,
but we do appreciate your consideration
and your time on this.
We really do.
Judge Ferguson: Well, you're welcome.
That's why I do what I do.
(Marc laughs)
Okay, Operator, next speaker please.
Operator: Next speaker is Lisa Lighthipe-Hinz.
Your line is open.
Lisa: Hi, my name is Lisa Lighthipe-Hinz,
l-i-s-a l-i-g-h-t-h-i-p-e
hyphen h-i-n-z.
I know it's a mouthful.
Thank you so much.
I live in the city of Orange.
I've lived there for about 45 years.
I have been in my current residence
for 15 years in Rocking Horse Ridge.
We, our community is the only subsection
of Orange that has Golden State Water.
As the previous callers have stated
we've had several rate increases.
The city of Orange pays an average
of 88 cents per unit for water.
But all of Orange County pays an average of $2.50,
and I pay $5.15 for a unit of water.
I find those fees are quite exorbitant.
In addition, I'm compared,
you talked about average usage to the people
within my community that are in a condo that are
in a home with a very small lot, with no water.
So I go to the highest tier every time.
I don't feel, and I've gone their public hearings before.
And they said, well yeah, that's life.
That's unfair.
That's really not fair that we're always
starting at the top tier because we're being
compared to people in our community again,
that have no property.
I do conserve water in the summer.
We turn off our water and we let things die
because I can't afford my water bill.
It's getting to the point that I'm gonna
have to sell my home that I love
because I can't afford a water bill that's $2,000.
I think that is ridiculous.
When I first moved in my water bill was
an average of three to 400 every two months.
Now it's an average of 1000 to 2000,
and they keep allowing this increase.
I've done my research and I know that for us to fight,
you have to have 51% of the people who have
Golden State Water in the state
of California sign a petition.
That's pretty difficult considering
California is a very large state.
I appreciate your time.
We've had Golden State out to do a conservation.
We have all the conservation sprinklers.
We've done everything we can to conserve water.
Again, I appreciate your time.
And I really hope this increase is not allowed.
Judge Ferguson: Thank you very much.
That was very enlightening.
Thank you.
Operator the next speaker, please.
Operator: Our next caller is a Leo Noriega.
Your line is open.
Judge Ferguson: Go ahead, Mr. Noriega.
Leo: Thank you very much.
My name is Leo, l-e-o n-o-r-i-e-g-a,
and I'm calling to object the proposal
that the water company is making.
I've been living here since 2014 in my home,
like Mrs. Lisa was just saying, that I love, and my--
Judge Ferguson: Which city are you in?
Leo: I'm in the city of Stanton.
Judge Ferguson: Okay, thank you.
Leo: Thank you.
And Your Honor, I love my house.
The grass it's dead, and why?
Because I'm trying to conserve water
and I don't find it in any way, just that the you know,
the company keeps raising the water bill.
My bill last, I want to say like two months ago it was $600.
There's no way.
You know like the other residents are saying you know,
we're coming out from a pandemic.
Everyone's income has been affected.
And guess what we do?
We manage everything in the house with what we have.
So why can the company manage their infrastructure
and all the investments that they want to do,
you know with what they have?
That's what we do as residents.
So I hope that you take this in consideration,
and please do not approve the rates
that they're trying to impose on us the consumers.
Thank you, Your Honor, and everybody that is working
diligently on this issue.
Judge Ferguson: Thank you, Mr. Noriega.
We appreciate your comments.
-: Thank you, Your Honor. -: Next speaker please.
Operator: At this time, I'm showing no further comments.
Again, if you would like to make a comment,
please press star one.
Judge Ferguson: Let me ask the operator
if there's any comments on
or speakers lined up on the Spanish line?
Operator: There are no speakers
on the Spanish line at this time.
Judge Ferguson: Okay, let's take, it is now 2:36 PM.
Let's take a break until 2:45 PM
to allow other speakers to line up in the queue.
So we will be off the record now, and we will return back
on the record in eight minutes at 2:45 PM.
Off the record.
Okay, let's go back on the record.
It's now 2:45 PM in the afternoon of May 27th,
and we are resuming the Public Participation Hearing
in the Golden State Water General Rate Case.
Is the operator available, and will he tell me
whether we have anyone in either the Spanish line
or the English line for public comments?
Operator: Yes sir, I am.
And we do not have any comments either
on the Spanish line or the English line at this time.
-: Okay, since that's so, then I think I will give
my concluding remarks and they are as follows.
I want to thank everybody who
actually participated in this today.
Those who are from the utility,
from the Public Advocates Office,
from the Public Advisor's Office
and all of the Support Team at the CPUC,
all of the members of the public
who listened to today's hearing.
There will be a further Public Participation Hearing
for region three later today, beginning at 6:30 PM.
The same call in number
and the password will be the same,
and you might tell your neighbors and friends about it
if they were unable to attend this afternoon's hearing.
If anyone who is listening would like to make
additional comments, I recommend that you get
in touch with the Public Advisor's Office,
and they will help you get your comments
into the docket sheet.
And you can reach the Public Advisor
at public.advisor@cpusi.ca.gov,
or you can call phone number 866-849-8390.
And that you can see that information
on the screen right now.
So with that, we will conclude this afternoon's
Public Participation Hearing and go off the record.