The North Carolina Supreme Court last week upheld the North Carolina
Utilities Commission’s (NCUC) use of a water and wastewater system
improvement charge (WSIC) that enables utilities to accelerate
distribution and treatment improvements for customers. The state enacted
the law that created the surcharge in 2013.
“The court’s decision is great news for customers of regulated water and
wastewater utilities throughout North Carolina,” said Aqua America
President and CEO Christopher Franklin. “The ruling enables Aqua and
other water companies to continue to accelerate much-needed capital
spending to improve quality and service for our customers, and the state
provides rigorous oversight and approvals for every project.”
The rate mechanism is hailed as a best practice by the National
Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and can lengthen the
amount of time between utility base rate increases while enabling a
utility to recover capital costs in a timely way through a bill
surcharge. This approach is in use in more than a dozen states across
the country. Projects funded through the North Carolina WSIC receive
rigorous regulatory oversight by the NCUC and the Public Staff.
Aqua is using the WSIC in North Carolina to accelerate filter projects
to address customer dissatisfaction with discolored water caused by
naturally occurring iron and manganese in the groundwater. Each request
for approval of a capital project under the WSIC requires at least the
same level of scrutiny as a base rate case, and every project is
available for review in the next base rate case.
Aqua America is one of the largest U.S.-based, publicly traded water
utilities and serves nearly 3 million people in Pennsylvania, Ohio,
North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana and Virginia. Aqua
provides water and wastewater service to more than 250,000 people in 51
counties throughout North Carolina. Aqua America is listed on the New
York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR. Visit AquaAmerica.com
for more information.
WTRF
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