After Wildfires Ravage Town, Utility Wants Rate Increase
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
A water utility in Tennessee is seeking a rate hike to offset the cost of making repairs after wildfires ravaged homes and infrastructure in the region.
Tennessee Water Service (TWS) “projects a net operating loss of more than $72,000 this fiscal year, and estimates that repairing its infrastructure will cost $300,000. Roughly 90 percent of the company's nearly 600 customers in the Chalet Village area of Gatlinburg lost their homes in last November's fires, which killed 14 people and destroyed nearly 2,500 buildings,” the Associated Press reported.
“The company stopped billing people for four months, and only 76 customers have restarted service. Most of the customers the utility had in the area before the fires remain inactive, denying the company the revenue it needs to recover,” the report continued.
The utility, a subsidiary of Utilities Services, Inc., filed a petition with Tennessee's public utility commission last month seeking to charge inactive customers $24.81 per month, a rise from no payment, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. The utility also sought to charge active customers $69.15 per month, a rise from $58.60 per month.
Customers are already questioning the rate hike. Jenny Laurer, a TWS customer, told the Knoxville News Sentinel: "I understand they need to rebuild everything. We all have to rebuild everything. Why is that our responsibility though?”
In a petition to Tennessee's utility regulator, the water provider noted that 90 percent of its customers lost their home in whole or in part from the fires.
“Because of the damage from the wildfires and corresponding loss of customer connections in 2016, TWS' system revenue and revenue projections are not sufficient to allow TWS a fair opportunity to recover its reasonable operating costs and to provide a fair and reasonable return on equity. Furthermore, for TWS to maintain and improve its drinking water system and provide safe and reliable service to its customers in accordance with [the Tennessee Public Utility Commission's] requirements during this time of rebuilding, the proposed emergency relief is necessary,” the filing said.