The state's consumer advocacy agency has rejected an 18 percent rate request by Aqua North Carolina, the state's largest private water utility.
The recommendation by the Public Staff to slash Aqua's rate request sets up a hearing June 9 before the N.C. Utilities Commission.
The Public Staff filed its recommendation Thursday in a case that has elicited dozens of protest letters from Aqua customers around the state who pleaded with regulators for support in the midst of an economic downturn that has left many unemployed and struggling with household budgets.
Rate cases are usually settled by utilities and the Public Staff, but the company and the consumer agency disagreed so strongly in this case that a compromise was never in sight.
Aqua wanted to raise rates by $7.9 million a year for its 88,000 water and sewer customers in the state. But the Public Staff said the company is entitled to raise rates by only $984 a year, 0.002 percent.
While the final decision on the rate case is up to the commission, Public Staff recommendations carry much weight and are often adopted by the commission.
The company expects to file a rebuttal next week to challenge the consumer agency.
Aqua's rates are about $100 for typical monthly usage, about twice as high as fees charged by municipal water and sewer services in Raleigh, Charlotte and other cities.
Aqua filed rate requests on behalf of five subsidiaries: Aqua Water, Aqua Sewer, Fairways Water, Fairways Sewer and Brookwood Water.
Aqua Water and Aqua Sewer serve the Triangle and Winston-Salem, including more than 400 subdivisions in Wake County. Fairways serves Wilmington and Brookwood serves Fayetteville.
