Water bills go up in down economy as usage drops

[tyler811]

Well water softened pre/post filtered FTW.

I cannot imagine having to pay for freakin water. In the summer my lawn, instead of green and weed free, would look brown like someone took a blow torch to it if I had to pay for water.



http://charter.net/news/read.php?ri...org>&ps=1014&sc_cid=homepage_newsDCC_article1

 

[Jumpem]

Well water ftw.

 

[herkulease]

there are other stupid shit too. Like here in California they've been screaming conserve, conserve, conserve. So people do. Water company revenues low so they end up jacking up the rates. Bunch of idiots.

 

[trmiv]

Yea in NC we had a major drought two years ago. The city of Raleigh put us on major water restrictions. Then when the drought lifted they kept us on some water restrictions. People kept conserving, and the water company started complaining that their revenues were down, so sure enough they raised rates.

 

[Jumpem]

there are other stupid shit too. Like here in California they've been screaming conserve, conserve, conserve. So people do. Water company revenues low so they end up jacking up the rates. Bunch of idiots.

That's what the electric company here in northern NY does. You use less electricity, so they raise the "delivery" charge.

 

[nageov3t]

I thought everyone paid for water.

at least here in the mid-Atlantic, it's cheap enough that it's not something anyone really thinks about.

 

[moshquerade]

That's what the electric company here in northern NY does. You use less electricity, so they raise the "delivery" charge.

National Grid?

 

[Jumpem]

National Grid?

Yup.

 

[moshquerade]

Yup.

One day they'll be out of business

 

[SooperDave]

Well water ftw.

Not always. I'm in Ca. and after a few years of drought the water table dropped and my well went dry last August. We had the pump lowered 20' but it wasn't enough. Happened to many residents out here. Most dropped $12k plus for a new well or ran a line from someone still in water. I bought a 500 gallon tank and put it on an old trailer and filled it at the neighbors once a week. It was a pain in the ass but it worked. The water table came up in January and my well is back in water. I hope it lasts.

 

[Bignate603]

This isn't exactly a huge surprise. A huge amount of their costs are fixed so even if people don't use as much water they still have to find a way to cover their costs.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Water goes up every year in my town. I pay more for water then I pay for electricity. It's not metered, so it does not matter how much I use. It's actually based on the number of rooms in the house, which is kinda silly. I don't get the point of paying for water, on top of municipal taxes. The water should be included in the taxes, given it is a municipal service like garbage pickup and such. That makes too much sense though.

 

[Jumpem]

Not always. I'm in Ca. and after a few years of drought the water table dropped and my well went dry last August. We had the pump lowered 20' but it wasn't enough. Happened to many residents out here. Most dropped $12k plus for a new well or ran a line from someone still in water. I bought a 500 gallon tank and put it on an old trailer and filled it at the neighbors once a week. It was a pain in the ass but it worked. The water table came up in January and my well is back in water. I hope it lasts.

I see your point if the water table is questionable. We never have droubts here in northern NY. Maybe a short dry spell during the summer. There's always plenty of water.

 

[iGas]

LOL, we have the same problem here. My city encouraged us to conserve water, and it created a short fall in the city budget due to low water usage. And, the result is that the city double the cost of water for the year of 2007, and they double water fees again in 2009.

Everyone is pissed off at the 400% increase of water price in 3 years, but we couldn't do anything about it because the bylaw do not allow us to drill our own well (fucking Nazi city council).

 

[MovingTarget]

Well water FTW! However at the same time pumping water still uses electricity if you want similar service at your faucets that the city provides. People cut back where they can in times of need, which isn't a surprise.

 

[Demo24]

I thought everyone paid for water.

at least here in the mid-Atlantic, it's cheap enough that it's not something anyone really thinks about.

Water lines don't run everywhere. At least where my mom and grandmother are the only thing they have to pay for in regards to water is the electricity to power the pump sitting 50ft away from the house. Only times it's not so great is during periods of extended drought and then things get dicey. Still, when you have times like this you've got more water than you can use. Plus, it tastes mighty good. ^_^

 

[PowerEngineer]

That's what the electric company here in northern NY does. You use less electricity, so they raise the "delivery" charge.

<sigh>

This shouldn't be very hard to understand. Delivery of electricity (and water) requires substantial infrastructure investments (e.g. power plants and transmission/distribution lines) that are in addition to the incremental cost of producing the commodity (e.g. fuel). The regulating bodies have traditionally preferred to minimize fixed charges to customers and therefore try to collect infrastructure revenue requirements by "peanut buttering" them on top of the actual commodity cost. To do this, they must forecast how much of the commodity will be sold. If they guess wrong, then the utility loses (or wins) until the next rate case. The lower the amount of the commodity forecast to be sold, the thicker the "peanut butter" must be spread. The only way to get away from the errors of forecasting consumption is to establish fixed "delivery" charges.

 

[lxskllr]

I'll take town water to well water every time. If my electric goes out, I can still draw water(without using a generator).

 

[de8212]

Water Departments still have to buy chemicals to treat the water (chemical companies are definitely raising their rates. They also have to maintain pumps/water lines throughout the city/county. They have to pay for electricity to run distribution pumps, chemical pumps, water plants, etc. and the rates for electricity have gone up as well.
So, there's alot of things that go into making non potable water potable. And they will certainly pass their increased costs on to the customer.

 

[Hacp]

Wait, so if you use the water, they raise rates because water is scarce. Now you use less and they still raise rates because no one is using it. So is there a time when they DON'T raise rates? Government monopoly ftl.

 

[mpo]

As others have said, utilities have huge fixed cost. There is a cost to maintain water physical plant treatment, delivery, and sewerage before a single ounce of water is able to be sent out to customers.

On top of that, it is very likely that the water utility will have debt service that has to be paid off. Most don't have $1 billion in reserves to pay for a new sewer interceptor, but it is more reasonable to pay that debt over a number of years. Well, when customers stop paying for service, the bond repayments do not go away.

One last thing--many water utilities have been pushing conservation to reduce peak usage. Hey, what is more important, the marginal cost in psi to water your plants or the fire department using the psi to put out a fire?

Another way to think of it, if water departments were to expand infrastructure to accommodate peak demand your rates now would be even higher now that demand is lagging.

 

[darrontrask]

National Grid and National Fuel have done the same thing here in WNY the last two years

 

[Svnla]

Ya'll are not alone. Other cities are doing similar things.

http://shreveporttimes.com/article/20100403/NEWS01/4030318/1060

 

[BoomerD]

Yep, it happens everywhere.

The utility companies cry "CONSERVE and save money," so people do, demand and revenue drop, so they raise rates to make up the difference.

We had been on "flat-rate" water pricing forever here...until last fall, when the city installed water meters to comply with state law. Now, our water costs have dropped significantly because it's winter...and we haven't had to water the lawn/garden.

A couple of my neighbors have taken out their front lawns and put in rock...

I ask them how long it will take to recoup the costs involved...(gonna be a couple of years minimum)


Sadly, my wife likes the idea...

 

[lxskllr]

A couple of my neighbors have taken out their front lawns and put in rock...

I ask them how long it will take to recoup the costs involved...(gonna be a couple of years minimum)


Sadly, my wife likes the idea...

That's a great idea. I'd love to have a rock yard, but I wouldn't want to pay for it. There's some great boulder fields in the northern part of the county around here. I'd like to live on one of them :^)