160812_EagleWater.pdf

Eagle Water surcharge request delayed for up to one year

Case No. EAG-W-15-01, Order No. 33567
Contact: Gene Fadness [phone]
www.puc.idaho.gov

BOISE (August 12, 2016) – A request by Eagle Water Company to implement a surcharge on
customers’ water use has been stayed for up to one year to allow more time for the company
to locate documents and consider settlement options and alternatives.

On Nov. 10, 2015, Eagle Water, which serves about 3,500 customers in and around the City of
Eagle, asked the commission to approve a surcharge that would add about $3.64 to the average
residential user’s monthly bill. (Eagle Water is a privately-owned water system and not the
same entity as the City of Eagle Water Department.)

Eagle Water’s application has been suspended three times, first at the commission’s discretion
and then two requests to suspend from the company were granted.

If a motion to lift the suspension is not made within one year of the commission’s August 10
order, the case will be dismissed.

Eagle Water seeks the surcharge to pay for a near $800,000 loan to finance about $935,000 in
improvements. The portion of expense not funded by the loan would be paid from $150,000 in
the utility’s existing surcharge account.

Eagle Water proposed that the surcharge apply only to consumption of more than 600 cubic
feet (ccf) per month. (100 cubic feet is about 748 gallons.) For a residential customer who uses
the company’s average of about 21 ccf/month, the proposed surcharge would have raised rates
an average $3.64 more per month. A commercial customer who uses the company average of
69 ccf/month would pay about $15.29 more per month.

Eagle Water claimed the improvements are needed to alleviate water pressure problems in the
northeastern part of its service territory. The largest portion of the improvements – nearly
$600,000 – would go toward construction of a seventh well. Other improvements identified by
the company are $150,000 for the main booster station, $62,200 for repairs to Well No. 4,
$47,000 to upsize a line at another well, $26,000 for a Hill Road line relocation, $25,600 for
repairs to Well No. 6, $13,400 for a State Street bridge line relocation and $6,500 for a bridge
line relocation at Horseshoe Bend Road.

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