The County Council will consider a proposed water rate increase at the August 8th Council meeting. Do you have any feedback for the Council?

The Department of Public Utilities (DPU) will bring to the Los Alamos County Council a draft ordinance 02-275 to increase retail and wholesale water rates.  Open to the public, the hearing on the proposed rate increase is scheduled for:  

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN DATE FROM JULY 25TH TO AUGUST 8TH.

Tuesday, August 8th at 6 PM
Municipal Building, Council Chambers
1000 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM

If the council adopts the ordinance it will go into effect immediately.  

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Please provide comments on this open forum page before 11:59PM on Sunday, August 6th. All comments from this forum will be shared with the County Council prior to the hearing. Members of the public are also welcome to provide public comment in person to the Council at the August 8th hearing.  

BACKGROUND

Beginning after the Cerro Grande fire in 2000 and through 2016, the DPU moved aggressively to improve the water production and distribution systems infrastructure by completing capital improvement projects (CIP) at the rate of  $2,250,000 per year. This compares favorably to the "Top Quartile" of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) national standard of $2,637,447 annual repair and replacement (R&R) CIP rate for similar sized systems. It is currently estimated that 20 years of CIP work remains to complete the task of repairing and replacing all of the known old and deficient infrastructure throughout these two systems. The proposed water rates are planned to fund operations and maintenance as well as provide for 20 years of CIP projects at a rate of $1,250,000 per year. This compares favorably to the "Median Quartile" of the AWWA national standard of $1,249,542 annual R&R CIP rate. In addition, per the new financial policy adopted by the BPU, cash reserves for the water production and distribution systems need to be sufficient to meet 180 days of operation and maintenance expenditures with contingency reserves to cover major equipment failures.  For DPU to meet this plan and the 20 year CIP project plan, it proposes an 8-percent increase this year.  In subsequent years, DPU will request rate increases of less than 8-percent, declining annually to eventually remain at a proposed 1.5% annual increase to offset anticipated inflation.

RETAIL RATES

The draft ordinance proposes an 8-percent rate increase across the board for retail customers' monthly service fee and the commodity rate.  Retail include commercial, county/schools, single family residential, and multi family residential customers.  

MONTHLY SERVICE FEE:

The monthly service fee covers the costs for billing and collections, metering and meter reading.  

COMMODITY RATE:

The commodity rate for all commercial, county and school customers is one rate per 1,000 gallons consumed all year.  

Single family residential and multi family residential customers are on a seasonal water rate:

• Non-peak rates begin October 1 and continue through April 30.  It is one rate per 1,000 gallons consumed with no tiers (the same as commercial, county and school customers). 
• Peak rates begin May 1 and continue through September 30.  It applies a tiered water rate: Tier 1) less than 9,000 gallons; Tier 2) between 9,000 and 15,000 gallons; and Tier 3) above 15,000 gallons. 

Commercial, Schools and County Rates (all year) and
Single Family and Multi family Residential Non-Peak Rates (Oct 1 - Apr 30). 

Single Family and Multi Family Residential Peak Rates - Tiered Water Rates (May 1 - Sept 30). 

EXAMPLE WATER BILL

The following are examples of a monthly water bill for a SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL customer with a 1-inch meter. 

January (Non-Peak) bill with 6,000 gallons of water consumed.

July (Peak) bill with 12,000 gallons of water consumed.

WHOLESALE RATES

Wholesale or bulk water rates apply only to the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Department of Public Utilities Water Distribution Division. These two entities purchase bulk water and then distribute the water to their respective customers.  The draft ordinance proposes a 8-percent increase as follows: 

READ THE PROPOSED DRAFT ORDINANCE: 02-275 POTABLE WATER AND BULK DELIVERY RATES

With the 8-percent rate increase, water charges will represent 9 percent of the typical Los Alamos household expenses.