California water utilities ask state’s top court to reverse elimination of surcharges
Two California water utilities went before the state’s Supreme Court on Wednesday to argue that the Public Utilities Commission cut corners when it decided to discontinue the use of surcharges to compensate the utilities for sales shortfalls from water conservation efforts. The Golden State Water Co. and the California-American Water Co. claim that the commission made the decision to eliminate the so-called decoupling mechanisms without giving them adequate notice that it was considering this option as part of a yearslong rulemaking procedure. As a result, the utilities argue, they had no opportunity to provide evidence to support their case that these mechanisms — which allow them to impose a surcharge on their customers when they face a revenue shortfall because of California’s efforts to conserve water in drought-plagued years — were serving their purpose.
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