Press Room

On February 5, 2009, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously approved a rate increase for Superior Water Company. The Company filed for a rate increase in May 2008. While the parties in the case (the Office of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Trial Staff, the Center Point Farm Homeowners’ Association, and individual customers from the Center Point Farm subdivision) all agreed to an annual revenue increase of $522,500 in September 2008 (in lieu of the almost $600,000 requested by the Company), the parties’ inability to reach consensus on the rate increase allocation caused the final PUC action to extend until February 2009.

The PUC’s approval will allow Superior Water to increase its customer charge from $10 per month to $14 per month. The rate per 1,000 gallons will increase from $6.23 to $7.97. The flat charge for public hydrants will be $23.75 monthly in lieu of the current $19.00 monthly charge and the charge for 1” meter private fire protection now will be $15.25 instead of $11.40. Bills will be prorated to reflect the official date of the increase.

Prior to this filing, Superior Water had not filed for a rate increase since 2000. The primary reasons for the rate increase were increased costs of labor, commodities, and utilities, as well as the increased levels of capital investment that Superior Water has made over the past nine years, most recently to treat arsenic in its main system. The arsenic project at the Winding Creek Station received its operating permit in the fall and water in the system meets the maximum contaminant level of 10 parts per billion. The system at the Hunters Run Station will be operational by early spring but Superior Water has reduced the current arsenic levels to less than 10 parts per billion by blending, which is an option during the low water usage season.

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