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1/3/2007
Water rate increase was no slam dunk
The Appleton Water Utility has been granted approval to increase water rates – 27% for residential customers and 39% for large, industrial users. The 27% increase for residential users includes Town of Grand Chute residents – who were initially told their rates would increase by as much as 64%.
On hearing that 64% proposed increase, Grand Chute went to work. They hired a consultant to review the Appleton Utility’s rate study, found a very significant error and several other numbers with which it disagreed. Then, in lieu of contesting the rate increase, Grand Chute negotiated with Appleton, pointing out areas of disagreement. The City and Town ultimately agreed, on October 30 to a 25% increase for Town of Grand Chute residents, the Town withdrew its objection to the proposed rate increase, and informed the Public Service Commission (PSC) about the agreement.
Well, after all the studying and analyzing was done, the PSC had a different idea – finally determining 27% increases for both the City of Appleton and the Town of Grand Chute.
The Town and City agreed to 25%. The PSC said “no way – we’re not acknowledging your negotiations,” put forward the 27% increase, and scheduled the obligatory public hearing.
Now, if you had an agreement with a customer (Grand Chute is an Appleton water customer) and it looked like that critical agreement was broken (for whatever reason), would you pick up the phone and talk to your customer? (Yes. Definitely. I would.)
No. No conversation between the two parties. Until the fireworks started at the PSC-hosted public hearing at 1:30 the afternoon of Thursday, December 21. Yup, just a few hours before putting your feet up and waiting for Saint Nick.
At the pre-Christmas hearing, some exasperated re-negotiating took place. When Appleton, Grand Chute and the PSC finally agreed – a hundred thousand here, a hundred thousand there – the PSC said they couldn’t make the adjustments until early in 2007 because too many PSC staff people were on vacation. What???
City representatives were tearfully tearing their hair out. The PSC representative, riled and trying to wind things up, actually said something like “my vacation started an hour and a half ago.” Clearly, no one expected that Grand Chute would insist their original agreement be honored. Imagine.
Because anything but agreement would have risked increased interest costs (because the PSC couldn’t get changes made), at almost 5 p.m., Grand Chute ultimately settled at the 27% offered by Appleton and the PSC, but clearly and in writing, “preserved and did not waive” their disagreements…. In other words, these disagreements have absolutely not gone away.
Grand Chute will be back with their consultants in less than a year, when the next rate increase comes along. It’s not enough that expenses (and rates) have ballooned by over 27%. Grand Chute still has residual, important issues that must be addressed in the future. And this last episode started because one municipal leader simply didn’t pick up the phone and talk to another municipal leader. Geeez.
COMMENTS
And then there was the Grand Chute resident who had to wait 2 hours to make a 2 minute statement.
Grand Chute must at least condider looking elsewhere for its water.
Ron Tank (Fri Jan 05 10:16:54 2007)
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