Stoneridge Water Co. customer rates rising
BLANCHARD – Rates for customers of Stoneridge Water Co. near Blanchard will go up Monday.
Hoping to encourage water conservation, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission recently approved a minimum monthly customer charge significantly lower than the provider had requested but a consumption charge slightly higher than was asked for.
Stoneridge Water serves about 374 households but will serve 1,207 households when planned developments in its service territory are built.
Stoneridge is primarily a resort area with 100 single-family residential customers, 12 condominium units, 150 time-share units, three recreation centers, a golf course and 37 developed motor coach units.
The water company also recently began serving Happy Valley Ranchos, a 101-home subdivision about half a mile away.
Stoneridge Water wanted to increase residential customer fees from $14 per month to $38 while raising consumption fees from 30 cents to 67 cents per 1,000 gallons.
However, the commission OK’d a $24 minimum monthly charge for a standard residential meter and a consumption charge of 79 cents per 1,000 gallons.
The company asked for a rate of return of 11 percent, but the commission granted 12 percent so Stoneridge Water will have sufficient revenue to make payments on a $160,457 loan from the State Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund. The commission also said a 12 percent rate of return is comparable to rates granted to other small water companies recently.
The commission’s order also approved a surcharge to allow the company to pay off a second loan from the State Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund for $278,000.
That loan financed hookups between the Stoneridge resort system and the Happy Valley Ranchos subdivision.
The surcharge of $16.83 per month for the first five years and $14.03 a month from the sixth to 19th years will be levied on subdivision customers who asked to be connected to the system.
The consumption charge for all meter sizes was set at 79 cents per 1,000 gallons. But the golf course consumption charge will be 71 cents per 1,000 gallons, reflecting a 10 percent discount because its service can be interrupted to benefit other customers if a main well shutdown or other emergency occurs.
The rate design encourages conservation, the utilities commission said.
The aquifer tapped by Stoneridge Water’s wells is a recharge feeder to the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer. There is significant concern about water quality and conservation of the aquifer due to growth and increasing use.
Interested parties may petition the commission for reconsideration of the rate case until July 10. Petitions must explain why a petitioner finds the order unreasonable, unlawful or erroneous. Petitions should include a statement of the nature and quantity of evidence that would be offered if reconsideration is granted.
Petitions can be delivered to the commission at 472 W. Washington St. in Boise; mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074; or faxed to (208) 334-3762.