Petition for Regulation

Who can Petition for Regulation

1. If you are a customer of an association – An “association” can be explained as individual members who own, operate, manage, or control a water system that provides service only to its members, which could include HOA or mobile park water facilities, for example. Associations are not typically regulated by the PUC, but customers with concerns about service quality or rates can petition for rate regulation. If the PUC receives petitions from 20 percent of the association’s members and determines that regulation is in the best interest of the customers, the PUC will issue an order establishing the water utility as a regulated utility.
   
2. If you are a customer of a water utility serving 500 customers or less and you recently received notification of the utility’s desire to increase rates – Utilities serving less than 500 customers are not generally rate regulated unless the utility wants to increase their customer’s average monthly bill above a ‘threshold level’ established by the PUC. Before the utility can increase rates above that established threshold, they must give you 60 days’ notice before the increase would go into effect. If at least 20 percent of the customers submit valid petitions, the PUC will issue an order establishing them as a rate-regulated water utility. This means the PUC will evaluate their proposed rates and require an official filing if the utility wishes to increase rates in the future. If the PUC does not receive the sufficient number of valid customer petitions, the water utility’s proposed rates will go into effect on the date indicated in the notice.