Consumers face water rate hikes

[Cranbury Press]

Consumers face water rate hikes
State to rule on increase requested by N.J. American
Thursday, April 22, 2010 7:08 PM EDT
By Davy James, Staff Writer
Part of centraljersey.com

Area residents may soon see their water bills increase as New Jersey American Water announced it has filed for new rates with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, which could increase the average customer’s monthly water bill by $7.10 or 23 cents per day.

The request for increased rates will come before the state BPU and a decision will take about nine months, according to a New Jersey American Water spokesman.

According to a press release, the company said upgrades to its facilities to improve water quality and increased expenses led to the new rate request.

”New Jersey American Water is confronting the serious need to replace aging infrastructure and deliver high-quality, reliable water service to the 2.5 million people we serve in New Jersey,” said New Jersey American Water President John Bigelow via release. “Rate increases are necessary as we continue to make prudent investments in our water systems to maintain and improve service. Water remains one of the lowest utility bills for a household and our customers will continue to pay less than a penny for a gallon of water.”

Cranbury and Jamesburg residents, who buy water from the company directly, also would see an increase in water rates if the state BPU approves the increase.
Jamesburg Mayor Anthony Lamantia said he hopes the BPU rejects the increase because it’s an issue of fairness.

”As a municipality, we can’t raise our budget over 4 percent, yet they want to raise water rates by 15 to 20 percent,” he said. “In this day and age, the BPU should be working with residents to say enough is enough. Everything is going up and we have to put a stop to it. The BPU needs to take a stand and reject the increase.”

Monroe Township officials said the rate increase wouldn’t have much of an impact on its residents because the township would absorb the impact.

”Although we’re not happy to see any increase, we only buy some of our surface water from them to supplement our well water,” said Business Administrator Wayne Hamilton. “It’s not a significant part of our cost of operation. It’s about $500,000 on a total cost of about $14 million, so it’s not going to have a direct impact on our residents.”

Cranbury Mayor David Stout didn’t return a call seeking comment.

http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2010/04/26/cranbury_press/news/doc4bd0d4f56fb18781618597.txt