Maine Water Co. rate increase OK’d by regulators
FIle Image / Courtesy, Maine Water Co.
A rendering from 2020 shows the water treatment plant on South Street in Biddeford, which replaces one built in 1884.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved a rate increase related the Maine Water Co.’s $60 million investment in a new drinking water treatment facility to serve customers in Biddeford and Saco.
Maine Water, owned by SJW Group (NYSE: SJW), said the agreement authorizes an increase in annual revenues of $6.3 million in the Biddeford-Saco division beginning on July 1, and sets a 9.7% return on equity to be applied across all of Maine Water’s divisions.
The average residential bill will increase $22.74 per quarter, or $7.58 per month. Actual bills will depend on usage, the company said.
The increase is the second of a three-step process to hike rates over three years for the new treatment facility, which is replacing a plant built in 1884. The third step will be a future rate filing to account for the actual operating costs of the new facility, the company said.
“We are committed to providing quality water service for current and future generations, and our team was able to mitigate the rate impact of this generational investment while seizing the opportunity to deliver significant environmental benefits,” said SJW Group Chair and President Eric Thornburg.
Rick Knowlton, president of Maine Water, said the company set aside 250 acres of land near the facility as protected open space and conducted wetland restoration on the property. Maine Water also plans to install a solar photovoltaic array that will offset 100% of the energy needs of the new facility. A pollinator garden and a trail for passive recreation are also planned.
The new treatment facility is expected to go online this spring and will serve more than 16,000 customers in southern Maine.
Maine Water also recently filed rate applications in its Camden-Rockland, Freeport, Millinocket and Oakland divisions that, if approved as filed, would increase annual revenues by about $530,000. The Biddeford-Saco and four recently filed cases combined represent about 85% of the total customers served by the company. A decision on the four rate applications is expected later this year.
Maine Water and its predecessor companies have been serving customers in the state of Maine since 1880. The company provides water service to more than 80,000 people in 21 communities across Maine. Its parent company, SJW Group, is among the largest investor-owned water and wastewater utilities in the U.S., providing water service to nearly 1.5 million people.
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