Southeast Drought and Rising (Tiered) Water Rates (LeakBird)

May.28, 2008 in Public Works, Water Conservation

Check out the US Drought Reporter and you’ll notice the Southeast in particular is suffering.

Yesterday the Associated Press ran a story that showed despite efforts toward water conservation, water rate hikes are being seen all throughout the Southeast:

In Glen Ridge, a small South Florida town of 275, water customers are facing a 15-percent surcharge.

“We’ve been asked to conserve, we’ve been asked to cut back, and we’ve done that — and now we’re getting charged more,” Mayor Alice McLane said. “It just doesn’t make sense. We do what we’re asked to do and we’re penalized.”

Atlanta’s utility, struggling to pay for a $4 billion update of its sewer and water infrastructure, heard from angry homeowners this week protesting a plan to raise customer rates by 27.5 percent this year and about 12.5 percent each of the next three years.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg utilities boosted rates by about 15 percent this month — about $6 for an average customer. Suburban Atlanta’s Gwinnett County warns it could raise rates if revenue — down 3 percent — keeps dropping.

“It penalizes the guy who says, ‘Gee I did all these measures to save water and now I’m going to pay the same rate anyways,’” said Brenda Hemphill, a Georgia car wash owner. “It sends a real mixed message.”

The utilities say they’re trying to cut expenses and forgo costly projects. Gainesville leaders have delayed projects, but are still considering a 7 percent rate increase.

Of course, we also just saw a 14.5% agenda increase in New York City, set to kick in July 1, 2008. Our very own San Francisco just called for “voluntary conservation” earlier this month, but it’s only a matter of time before the already expensive tiered water rate system gets bumped up.

Needless to say, water is getting more and more expensive, and it’s exponential with the tiered water rates programs being implemented across the country, as recently adopted in cities like Durham:

WATER BILLS GOING UP

CURRENT WATER RATE: $1.56 per 100 cubic feet (cf), or 748 gallons.

EFFECTIVE JULY 1: Under the new tiered system, rates will go up as customers consume more water. The flat monthly service charge also will rise, nearly doubling from $2.58 to $5.12.

*NEW TIERED RATES (PER 100 CF)

Tier 1, less than 200 cubic feet — $1.72

Tier 2, 200-500 cu. ft. — $1.81

Tier 3, 500-800 cu. ft. — $1.98

Tier 4, 800-1,500 cu. ft. — $2.58

Tier 5, more than 1,500 cu. ft. — $3.87

*These rates apply to indoor residential use. Outdoor water use will be charged under the Tier 5 rate. Commercial and industrial users, including apartment complexes, will be charged Tier 3 rates. Officials plan to charge multi-family entities under the tiered system next year, then other commercial and industrial customers starting in 2010.

Following on the heels of yesterday’s announcement in the Wall Street Journal that a Dallas utility is installing 3 million ’smart meters’ for electricity in homes and small businesses at $120-a-pop, I think that ’smart meters’ for indoor water usage that don’t cost $300 apiece (I mean think about it, if you have 3000 units, it’s going to cost you almost $1m to install individual leak detection devices) would be an excellent development. (Dislosure: And we’re working on just that, so stay tuned.)

From the WSJ article:

“What seems pretty clear, as people try to make better use of electricity and water, is that the old monthly meter reading won’t cut it anymore,” said Howard Scott, managing director of the Scott Report, a publication that covers the advanced-meter industry and is a unit of Cognyst Advisors LLC.

If you are interested in How You Can Increase Your Cash Flows by $2,500.00 Every Year and Never Pay for High Water Bills Due to Your Tenants’ Running Toilets, sign up for our Free Report here.

Abendigo Reebs is the VP of Business Development for LeakBird Industries LLC in San Francisco, CA. He may be reached by email at ben@leakbird.com

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