200119_sw.doc

DECISION MEMORANDUM

TO: COMMISSIONER HANSEN
COMMISSIONER SMITH
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
JEAN JEWELL
RON LAW
LOUANN WESTERFIELD
TONYA CLARK
DON HOWELL
DAVE SCHUNKE
RANDY LOBB
JUDY STOKES
WORKING FILE
FROM:
DATE:
JANUARY 9, 2001 RE: CASE NO. UWI-W-01-01 (United Water)
GOLDEN DAWN/BARBERTON
PETITION FOR INSTALLATION OF INDIVIDUAL METERS

On December 27, 2000, a Petition for Installation of Individual Water Meters was filed with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (Commission) by nearly one-half of the United Water customers in the Barberton/Golden Dawn service area (previously Barber Water Company). As reflected in their Petition
Per UWI, we are the only individual home sites within UWI’s customer base that don’t have our own water meters. The current master meter average billing method, which replaced Barber Water’s billing, is unjustifiably high when compared to other UWI customer bills. It doesn’t give residents ability to manage/reduce their water usage to minimize financial impact. We believe these meters should have been installed prior to any change in billing calculations. Unjustifiably high master meter billing has placed unreasonable economic burdens on many senior citizens residing within our community. We wish to be responsible for managing water usage at our home sites like all other individual UWI customers. Finally, we believe master meters prevent us from giving support to PUC’s position regarding water conservation.

We request the PUC to correct the above concerns by directing UWI to install individual water meters at each of our home sites for the least possible expense to us.

The Commission approved United Water’s acquisition of Barber Water Company in Case No. UWI-W-99-04, Order No. 28205 on November 16, 1999. In Staff comments filed in that case, Staff made the following comments regarding metering:
Barber Water provides service to its residential customers through a water distribution system that is not currently metered. It is not unusual for water systems with adequate water supply to have a flat unmetered rate. However, Staff prefers metered service whenever possible because it is a more accurate and equitable way to determine consumption. It also encourages responsible water usage, it promotes conservation and it is consistent with service provided other customers of United Water.

Barber Water customers currently do not have meters installed on the service lines (with the exception of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival service line which has a 2 inch meter set in place). United Water has stated that it does not intend to install meters unless and until large scale maintenance repairs are required on the distribution system. The costs for installing the meters at the onset of the purchase were deemed by United Water to not be justified due to the typical lower than average consumption patterns for mobile home parks.

Although Staff believes that metering may be more equitable than flat rates for Barber Water residents that have small yards or use gravel to reduce maintenance, Staff acknowledges that the cost of installing individual meters is expected to be excessive (i.e., result in a negative impact on existing UWI customers). Staff therefore recommends the use of master metering, which is expected to provide a balance between the use of flat rates and individual metering. The master metering allows billings to reflect actual system consumption, consequently giving customers a price indicator for periods of high consumption and lower payments during periods of low consumption.

In its Order approving United Water’s acquisition and the Company’s decision not to meter, the Commission made the following findings:
To encourage responsible water management and promote conservation, United Water has offered a plan whereby it will make available to Barber Water customers a program of water conservation education and will offer Barber Water customers a free indoor audit kit and an outdoor audit. We find United Water’s efforts at customer education in this case to be reasonable for the specific facts of this case, a customer base transitioning from a flat unmetered rate to a collective meter rate. We hope Barber Water customers will take advantage of the opportunities presented.

Commission Decision
Staff recommends that a notice of the Petition be issued and that United Water be directed to file a response to its customers’ concerns regarding water usage in the Barberton/Golden Dawn area, the Company’s billing of said customers and their request for metering. Does the Commission find Staff’s proposed procedure to be acceptable?

vld/M:UWI-W-01-01_sw

DECISION MEMORANDUM 2