Hats off to North Carolina residents, who, for almost a year now, have cut their water consumption by a third in response to a record drought.
Now, the residents of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County are getting a hefty reward for their sacrifice: they’ll be paying more for their water.
Perhaps ticked-off residents shouldn’t be surprised: less spending on water has left Charlotte with a projected $29 million shortfall over this year and next. Utilities officials say they must raise rates to make up for the losses.
Has Joe Citizen shot himself in the foot?
(Hat tip: Kip Robinson)
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For ThirstyDude in #5: Nearly all of the costs of delivering water are fixed.
No matter how much water flows through the pipes, you have to have functional pipes throughout your service area. A certain number of them are going to break each year and have to be replaced — no matter what you do.
Meter reading costs the same for a dial that hasn’t moved vs. one that’s spinning like a top. Mailing bills costs the same for 1 CCF as it does for 1,000 CCFs.
There are some tests that have to be run daily or weekly. Sell a miniscule amount of water? Run one test. Sell an enormous amount of water? Run one test.
Have a big pumping station? You need a guy to take care of it, whether it’s running flat out or at less than half capacity. Reservoir? Got to check that dirtwork regularly, whether it’s empty or full.
Some of the costs are flexible — the amount of chlorine you use depends on the amount of water you serve — but most of them are not.
Seems like a accounting / billing failure rather than a market development.
In my neck of the woods, utility bills are tabulated as the sum of fixed costs and metered costs. Even if I don’t consume I still pay what amounts to a hookup cost.
I live in Charlotte. The three tier water rate is being stepped to lower levels so those who paid the minimum rate, may well now pay a higher rate. Those who will now pay the minimum will be those who clearly use the least water
Similar thing has been discussed around Atlanta. Many of these water boards have been required to undertake very expensive upgrades either for conservation, or because there is less water so it is more expensive to process, etc, so they have a bunch of bonds that need to be paid off. No matter how little water we use, the bonds are still there. So they have to raise the rates if they don’t want to go bankrupt.
This sounds a bit startling to us… Up here, in Montréal, water is ?free». We don’t pay a dime no matter what we use.
We also have a mile-wide river which drains a quarter of North America passing by us, which may explain things…
This is just a money grab by the city. The same “hike” was proposed by Mayor Meeker in Raleigh as well. He cited the same reasons. Everyone saw right through the smoke an mirrors.
Perhaps they should have some sort of saved water credit. I would be furious if I did a good thing and then got punished for it, but sometimes that is what happens. I think the citizens should appeal this issue to their local politican’s.
Thanks
Rachel Duncan
The Baked Blogger
http://bakedblog.com
#3 – Wonder? Of course it’s undervalued. Water, similar to air, soil, and other shared natural resources are always undervalued until demand exceeds availablilty. If people step back and think about how valuable clean, safe water is, then hopefully they will be able to accept a higher charge for it.
I work for a municipality that supplies water to residents from Lake Michigan. Seems like a bottomless source – but in all reality the lake levels keep dropping, water pollution is increasing, and the costs to treat it and transport it are also rising.
I know it’s hard to fathom paying more for something that falls “for free” from the sky. But, as other’s have noted, you’re paying for treatment and delivery. (Not to mention the convenience!)
Bravo to the North Carolina residents that have reduced their water consumption. Their public officials should seriously consider a phasing schedule to the proposed increases so the pain of a higher bill isn’t felt all at once. Our electric company here has recently increased rates to the point where a phased hike was necessary.
And if it came down to it, I’m sure we would all give up our “premium” cable channels for clean water.