Water rate proposal raises eyebrows
SPIRIT LAKE – For every gallon of water used by customers in the East Spirit Lake development, another gallon and a half leaks into the ground through cracks in piping, according to a state study.
So when the Spirit Lake East Water Co. asks to double its rates – the first increase in the company’s history – customers like Ron Bart are skeptical.
“There’s people here who think any increase is bad due to (the company’s) poor management record,” Bart said.
Bart said he and many of the other 287 Spirit Lake water customers have been through extended outages, large water leaks and poor service from the water company, founded in 1977 to service the East Spirit Lake housing development.
Nobody from Spirit Lake East Water Co., run by Hanson Industries in Spokane, returned phone calls.
Staff members for the Idaho Public Utilities Commission joined the water customers in their skepticism. In a 25-page report, the commission staff blasted the water company for not meeting requirements set by the state Department of Environmental Quality and made recommendations to the company on how to better maintain the system.
Foremost on the list of suggestions was to fix the leaks. Water systems are allowed to leak no more than 15 percent of their output, according to the report. The water company’s leakage is “well beyond the recognized maximum,” the report stated.
“By any standard, the leakage problem is severe and appears to be increasing faster than customer usage,” the report said.
The company should first make repairs, the report suggests, then request a surcharge on customers. The commission staff recommends a rate increase of about 27 percent.
The report also found problems with a backup generator that has failed both times it was needed, and the roof of a 192,000-gallon reservoir needs repairs.
Bart and a few other residents have decided to take matters into their own hands by forming a nonprofit organization to try to take over control of the water system.
“We don’t have the deep pockets to fix catastrophic failures,” Bart said, “but we at least know how to operate a water system.”
By forming a nonprofit, Bart said he hopes SLEWCo will transfer control and receive a tax write-off in the process.
But the company has been wrangling with the community members, first sending what Bart called a “draconian nondisclosure agreement” and then dropping contact altogether.
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission will hold a hearing Feb. 28 to discuss the rate increases. A workshop begins at 6 p.m., and the hearing is at 7 p.m. at Spirit Lake Elementary School, 32605 N. Fifth Avenue in Spirit Lake.