Antelope Valley Lawmakers Sponsor Water Rate Reform

Two Antelope Valley lawmakers have sponsored legislation to bring changes to how the California Public Utilities Commission sets rates for investor-owned water companies. State Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Lancaster) is the lead sponsor of SB 1461 that would reform “the rate of return earned by water corporations.” Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) is the co-author of the bill. The bill was introduced Feb. 16, the same day that the Coalition to End Water Rates Abuse had a public meeting in Lancaster to discuss the issue of how rates are set by the public utilities commission. In the Antelope Valley, for instance, California Water Service provides water to about 1,400 residents who have seen their rates increase by 215 percent since 2005. About 1.1 million household connections receive water service from the four major private utilities, according to the coalition. In November, Wilk and Lackey sent a letter to the commission asking about the California Water Service rate increases in the Antelope Valley, about the water carrier splitting its approved three-tiered rate system into a six-tiered system and approval of a fee for customers that offsets revenue loss due to water conservation.