Reynolds water company seeks increase
TRANSFER, Pa. -- The 730 customers of the Reynolds Water Co. will see their water rates rise by nearly 50 percent under terms of a rate increase sought by the company.
Reynolds filed its request today with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, citing a variety of reasons for the increase.
"This increase will enable the company to recover increased operating expenses due to compliance to new regulations from the [federal] Environmental Protection Agency and the [state] Department of Environmental Protection, and overall inflation," said Brad Gosser, director of operations.
Various system improvements and "a reasonable rate of return on its investment" were other reasons for the request, he said.
The company's last increase was 16.4 percent in August 1998.
The new increase is scheduled to go into effect Feb. 16 and will generate $153,083.
Impact on users
The average residential customer using 11,000 gallons of water per quarter would see his or her quarterly cost rise from $60.16 to $88.35.
A commercial customer using 2,000 gallons per quarter would see quarterly rates rise from $22.90 to $33.63.
An industrial customer using 209,000 gallons per quarter would see quarterly rates rise from $872.21 to $1,281.68, while public customers, such as schools, using 281,000 gallons per quarter would see quarterly rates rise from $1,188.95 to $1,747.13.
The PUC will examine the company's request over the next 60 days.