CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Commission plans to intervene with West Virginia American Water Company’s proposed plan for a 28 percent rate increase on its customers.
Last week, WVAWC announced the plan and the county commission believes such a drastic increase is uncalled for. Commissioner Dave Hardy who said the increase “dumbfounded” him, said there’s a difference between adjusting for inflation, and taking advantage of citizens.
“Everybody understands inflation, and everybody understands that costs go up,” Hardy said. “But I don’t know any person that’s received a 28 percent pay raise or a 28 percent raise in their social security or pension benefits in the last year.”
He said the commission would file a motion to fight the raise in the public service commission rate case to try to understand why WVAWC thinks such a drastic increase is justified. Hardy said the company has asked for more than they planned to receive in the past.
“The water company’s method in the past has been ask for an extremely high rate increase, and then settle for one that’s still in my judgement to be pretty high,” Hardy said. “It’s wrong, it’s not needed and we certainly want to assert our position in front of the public service commission, and we trust they’ll see it the same way.”
The proposed increase would mean that the average WVAWC customer would pay close to $12 more a month for water.