The future of EPCOR wastewater rates in the West Valley could be determined in the next month, according to a spokesman with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
The Arizona Corporation Commission …
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The future of EPCOR wastewater rates in the West Valley could be determined in the next month, according to a spokesman with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
The Arizona Corporation Commission is expected to draft an opinion on whether EPCOR Water Arizona Inc. should consolidate its districts and change water rates in those areas.
The service area districts include: Agua Fria, Anthem, Chaparral, Havasu/Brooke, Mohave, North Mohave, Paradise Valley, Sun City, Sun City West, Tubac and Willow Valley.
A final decision on the matter was delayed. Initially, a final decision on the matter was expected in July or August.
“Our hearing division is currently drafting its recommended opinion and order which should be out within the coming month,” said Nick Debus, an ACC spokesman, on Friday. “Once that is out, it is up to the chairwoman’s office to place the item on a future open meeting agenda for consideration.”
The ACC is expected to sift through six consolidation scenarios — from keeping the district the same to creating smaller water districts — to determine what, if any, changes are made.
That decision comes in the wake of an Arizona Supreme Court decision that unanimously ruled against the Sun City Home Owners Association in a separate lawsuit that sought to reverse consolidation of five wastewater districts in 2018.
That consolidation, approved by the ACC, resulted in significantly higher rates for Sun Cities customers and lower rates for customers in the other districts.
The Supreme Court’s decision could impact an ACC’s pending decision on an EPCOR Water rate increase and consolidation request.
In March, a hearing meant to help decide the fate of future water rates was cut short after a meager amount of residents voiced concerns during the public session.
The public comment meeting, which was scheduled for three hours, took about 15 minutes to wrap up after three affected residents voiced concerns over whether EPCOR Water Arizona Inc. should consolidate its districts and raise water rates in those areas.
The meeting was held by the Arizona Corporation Commission via telephone.
At the March meeting, plenty of residents filed online comments for and against consolidation.
On March 17, Clyde Halstead, attorney for Anthem Community Council, filed a statement in support of consolidation and “benefits to be gained” by Anthem water users. Anthem residents would pay less under most of the six proposed consolidation plans. Meanwhile, Sun Cities residents would see increases in nearly all of the consolidation efforts.
In 2019, the commission ended up deadlocked on EPCOR’s water rate increase and district consolidation when Commissioner Sandra Kennedy abstained and the vote ended with a 2-2 tie, meaning nothing changed. EPCOR officials then requested interim rates. In a Friday interview, Rebecca Stenholm, EPCOR spokeswoman, said she didn’t hear “of an exact date on when the ACC opinion would be out” by the governing board.
The commission asked the utility to merge the districts as a way to help operate and maintain aging infrastructure in those areas.
Stenholm said she didn’t want to speculate on which scenario would be best to choose. The spokeswoman has said some current rates are outdated and some rates are more than 25 years old.
“Certainly, we think bringing the districts together is best for the long term,” Stenholm said on Friday.
Stenholm said new rate hikes would recover the cost of completed projects and that EPCOR cannot use rate increases to help pay for future infrastructure projects.
A few years ago, EPCOR had to pay out of pocket to the tune of about $3 million to fix a collapsed Sun City well that was built during the era of the Great Depression.
“We cannot collect money on a rate increase to go toward future projects.”
News Editor Rusty Bradshaw contributed to this story.
Brent Ruffner Lead News Reporter | Daily Independent @AzNewsmedia
Journalism has fascinated Brent Ruffner since junior high school.
Since 2001, his stories have been published in newspapers from the Albuquerque to the Arizona and he has always had a knack for making sure his facts are right and his words are to the point.
Growing up, Brent watched as sports reporters covered his beloved Phoenix Suns, a team he followed since Charles Barkley first arrived in Phoenix via trade in 1992. Sports reporting was a dream back then.
But after gaining some writing experience, Brent found a love for news instead of covering different types of sports. In 2008, he moved to New Mexico and covered crime, schools and city beats all while holding elected officials accountable.
He covered stories that ranged from a DEA drug bust gone bad to an award-winning story on school lunches.
In Arizona, Brent was a freelance writer who covered everything from the importance of citrus in the state to Esteban owning a store in downtown Prescott.
Brent is a 2007 graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
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