PUC to Host Two Telephonic Hearings on Proposed AQUA Rate Increases

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission announced they will be holding two telephonic hearings  to gather public input on the rate increases proposed by Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. (Aqua Water) and Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater Inc. (Aqua Wastewater).

The Telephonic hearing date is Wednesday, August 14. Hearing #1 will begin at 1 p.m. and hearing #2 will begin at 6 p.m.

In-person hearings have been scheduled and details can be found here.

The PUC has provided the below recap of the rate increase requests from Aqua PA

Under the proposals, the average monthly bill for a residential water customer using 3,870 gallons per month would increase by $16.10 (19.9%) from $80.91 to $97.01.  The average monthly bill for a residential wastewater customer would increase $14.92 (18.4%) from $81.18 to $96.10.

A final PUC decision on both rate increase requests is due by February 22, 2025.

Aqua Water provides water service to approximately 445,000 customers in portions of more than 200 municipalities throughout 32 Pennsylvania counties.  Aqua Wastewater provides wastewater service to approximately 56,000 customers in portions of more than 40 municipalities throughout 16 Pennsylvania counties.

Registering for the Telephonic Hearings

If you wish to testify at one of the telephonic public input hearings, you are encouraged to pre-register by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. Failure to pre-register could result in you not being called to testify by the PUC judge.

To pre-register, you can email the PUC Judge’s Legal Assistant, Christina M. Biggica, at cbiggica@pa.gov, or call the judge’s office at 717-787-1191 and provide the following information:

• Your first and last name.
• The phone number you will be using to call into the public input hearing.
• A phone number where you can be reached prior to the hearing if we need to contact you.
• Your email address, if you have one.

Offering Testimony at a Public Input Hearing

The PUC offers tips on how to participate in a public input hearing, including:

• Prepare what you are going to say beforehand. Even though it is not required, you may want to write out your statement, which can be read.
• Any formal testimony that is offered during the hearing will become part of the record on which the PUC will issue its final decision.
• Understand that parties in the case may want to ask you a question to clarify something you said.

State senator Steve Santarsiero’s office is also able to help.  Email senatorsantarsiero@pasenate.com or call 215-497-9490 for assistance with any state issue.  Please forward this to anyone in the region who may be interested in participating.