Customers have chance to comment on rate hike
Water company seeks 23 percent increase; hearings next week
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer
Area residents who want to comment in person on a proposed increase in the rates they pay for water from the New Jersey American Water Co. will have to travel a bit to do that.

The company has scheduled five public hearings at which ratepayers may offer their perspective on a proposed 23.35 percent rate hike. One hearing will be in Monmouth County. There will not be a hearing held in Ocean County.

Howell Township Manager Helene Schlegel recently asked state Sen. Robert Singer to petition the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to hold at least one hearing in Howell.

Singer's legislative district includes Howell, Lakewood and Plumsted, three of many communities facing an increase in water rates proposed by the firm.

Public hearings on the company's proposal for a rate hike have been scheduled for April 2 at 2 p.m. in Ocean City, Cape May County, and 7 p.m. in Westhampton, Burlington County; April 3 at 2 p.m. in Eatontown,Monmouth County, and 7 p.m. in Maplewood, Essex County; and April 4 at 2 p.m. in Hamilton, Mercer County.

According to Schlegel, the hearings are inopportune and not convenient for Howell residents. She said she reached out to Singer in the hope that the BPU would hold a hearing in Howell, or at a closer venue.

That does not appear likely at the present time.

According to Doyal Siddell, public information officer for the BPU, "The evidentiary hearings in this matter were approved by the administrative law judge assigned to this case and by all the parties to this proceeding.

"Since New Jersey American Water Company provides service in 17 of the 21 counties in New Jersey, it would be nearly impossible to cover every single franchise area and to set up a public hearing. The parties tried to set up hearings to accommodate the contiguous and surrounding areas of the state so that customers have a central point to attend a public hearing," Siddell said.

He added, "In this case, there are five public hearings scheduled throughout New Jersey - some in the evening and some during the day. The company complies with the statutory requirement of holding public hearings in its franchised service territories."

Any comments and/or concerns about the proposed increase can be sent to the BPU by individuals who are not able to attend any of the scheduled public hearings, Siddell said.

State Assemblyman Joseph Malone, whose district includes Howell, Lakewood and Plumsted, called the scheduled hearings "not conducive to participation" for the scheduled hearing times, Malone said they are "not in the best interest of the public," adding that "most people are not available during the middle of the day."

Singer shared that sentiment in a letter to BPU President Jeanne Fox. According to the correspondence, "The hearing calendar is an affront to the people who cannot attend because they must work to pay their bills; ironically, the necessity of water being one of those bills."

Although Singer lodged the protest to the appropriate parties, he said, "We don't have the power to force them (to hold a hearing in a specific town) and they have already advertised" the meeting dates and locations.

During the hearings, members of the public will have a chance to voice their opinion about the 23.35 percent increase in water rates that New Jersey American Water Co. is seeking. The BPU will eventually determine how much, if any, of the rate increase will be granted.

According to New JerseyAmerican, the proposed rate increase "comes as a result of the company's effort to invest a substantial level of capital to upgrade facilities statewide while absorbing increased chemical and energy costs. The proposed rate adjustment will reflect the substantial investment in infrastructure the company continues to make in order to provide high-quality, reliable water service to over 2 million residents throughout the state."

A typical New Jersey American customer currently pays about $44 a month for 7,000 gallons of water. If the BPU grants the full increase of 23.35 percent, that customer would pay about $54 per month for the same amount of water, according to Lendel Jones, the company's vice president of Corporate Communications and Governmental Affairs.