STPUD locks in rates for people with water meters
By Kathryn Reed
Although the South Tahoe Public Utility District board was offered more options in how to bill metered water customers, the board on Tuesday voted unanimously to stick with the original proposal.
This means residential customers with meters will see 55 percent of their bill a fixed rate and 45 percent based on consumption at a rate of $2.05 per 100 cubic feet.
While the topic brought out the masses May 5, only two people attended the May 24 morning meeting.
However, at a different meeting that same day resident Jim Long brought up the inequity of the rate structure with state Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Roseville. Gaines was in town talking to constituents at the Riva Grill in South Lake Tahoe.
Gaines said his staff will follow-up on the question to see if there is a better way for the state to be dealing with metered customers in tourist areas where consumption averages fluctuate because of the number of second homeowners.
It’s the people with large lawns who will see the most difference in their rates. Long said he is one of those people.
Dennis Cocking, spokesman for South Tahoe PUD, said staff will be looking at ways to help people who end up with exorbitant bills, but he stressed they will also have to come up with a new landscaping design.
It’s the state of California that is mandating meters be put in. The idea is this will lower consumption. But no money was put in the bill for the installation of meters. Nor does the state allow water districts to wait to bill customers based on consumption until all meters are in by 2020. This is why STPUD customers now have different rates instead of everyone continuing on with the flat rate.
California water districts with less than 3,000 customers do not have to install meters. This means on the South Shore that Lukins, Lakeside and Tahoe Keys water customers under the current law will not have meters installed.
Nevada water customers have meters because the state said do it or lose funding.
maybe dennis cocking and the stpud board,as well as the budget gurus could come out to our fire ravaged properties to give us
‘tips” on not only how to conserve water, but how to avoid massive water run off. not having the 90+ mature trees and shrubs we had. water is a prerequisite to growing-and you start us on our meters WE paid for as well as paying for the installation. but wait, there’s more! our meters are the first to be activated-SHAME ON YOU STPUD, AND THE BOARD MEMBERS FOR NOT LISTENING TO US.
Electric and gas companies are regulated by the state as to how much they can charge/raise or even lower rates. Why not the water companies? Stpud is a private water/sewer company charging us what they want. It doesn’t seem right. Also, why is Tahoe hit with such strict water uses when we have plenty for ourselves. Why must we conserve so other parts of both states can build and use our water!
Let’s break STPUD into water districts of under 3000 customers each. Problem solved.
Only Nv. uses water from the basin. STPUD is not private, its a special district with an elected board. Board members receive as of 2009, state #, $400.00 per month pay and $1800.00 a month in ins. bennies.
Tony is right when he said the Board Did Not Listen to Us.
It might be time to replace the Board with people who will listen to us. The Board had lots of options. Even their own consultant suggested charging $1.35 for consumption and $85 for the base.
STPUD has a Board that appears to do whatever the Management wants. This is dangerous for Locals. This is happening in many parts of our country, the big bureaucracies refuse to reduce their spending and they are willing to bleed the local citizens into poverty to save their lavish spending.
What can we do about it? We can fight back at the next Board election with our own option to, “THROW THE BUMBS OUT”.
The comsumption charge of $2.50 is per hundred cubic feet, not per cubic foot.
oops, that’s consumption with an n
The state has mandated that STPUD read the meters but it is STPUD that sets the consumption rate and usage rate. Here is a study done by someone else which shows a higher average use that STPUD could have used. http://www.cbia.org/go/cbia/?LinkServID=E242764F-88F9-4438-9992948EF86E49EA
One suggestion that someone made was to raise the consumption rate but leave the cost rate the same, that would solve the problem. But once again as I have reported before, STPUD cannot lose money on the rate side of their income because that’s where the money comes for increases to their salary and benefits as Grant Funding cannot be used for anything other than infrastructure. They also must prove they are conserving or else Grant Funding will dry up.
I live in the burn area. I have already stopped watering my lawn and new trees that will die soon. So much for revegitation. I have an idea, I guess I could run a hose over to my neighbors house across the street who have meaters but are on unlimited water. So unfair!
Looking at the water bill I have sitting in my file and it says the billing period is for 4/01/11 to 6/30/11. Yet it also says that water usage is billed in arrears. How can the two statements be true?
Actually, there is an explanation in smaller print below, but I think ST PUD likes to keep its customers confused about what they are actually paying for. I am also a metered customer, and though my initial bills after they started reading the meter went down, I KNEW it would not stay that way. As has been noted before, since the water usage billing is in arrears, we won’t know how much we are actually paying for our summer irrigation till after the fact. I’m sure I’ll have a heart attack. . .
what is good for one water user, should hold the same for the others… It is time to hold the stpud board’s feet to the fire, AND figure out a refund or credit for angora owners that paid for fund granted meters,installation, and immediate implementation and monitering og meters-Ted gaines is a contact that should see this debacle too.
The Tahoe Keys doesn’t have water meters? They have the most turf of any community, and it is often over watered. And over fertilized. Worst thing to ever happen here.
Johnny: You don’t have to lose anything. Decide if a lawn is worth the money, and then water everything else with drip irrigation.
Come on you guys! Quit banging on STPUD and their Board members. We have enjoyed years of their concerned caring for us the poor ratepayers while they suffered deprivation after deprivation, cutback after cutback, and all the while holding the increases to their workers total compensation package to a measly 4.15%. All this while increasing the total number of employees and this during a recession.
Give those over worked, under paid employees, who lack for decent health and retirement benefits, the break they need. Let them raise all the rates as much as they want, they deserve it.
(This is sarcasm, for the District employees reading this who just do not understand or just do not care.)
Dale Rise and Chris Cefalu should be ashamed of themselves. The other three are lackeys so didn’t expect more.
With 400% more water available than we use and no way to transport unused water to the rest of California why in the world are we doing this nonsense to ourselves. Second home owners are not full members of the community and probably don’t or shouldn’t vote here but they get the benefit of this ludicrous 45/55 percent split and locals have to pay through the nose to have a decent lawn.
STPUD says less than 20% of the cost of delivering water is for the water itself and the rest of the cost is for infrastructure, so why are they charging 45%? Something is rotten in Denmark and the South Tahoe Public Utility District.
We are waiting for an explanation Dale.
I would like to know from anyone who would know if Lake Tahoe golf course will be metered. I know they have no restricted watering days as they water each green twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. I’m not trying to bash I”m just wondering.
Good idea robot. I might have to tap into the natural spring on my property.
Tahoe keys will not have water meters? Take a drive around So.Shore and see for yourself where most of the lawns are. A lot of the homes off of Venice and Capri are rarely occupied but they’ve got automated sprinklers with all that water running directly into the lake. What a joke!
The whole operation of installing water meters in this town turned out to be a joke. Did STPUD really think that they wouldn’t be getting any feedback on how unfair they have been? I guess not. I am all for conserving water. But everyone in this town should be metered and conserve too. The people who are not metered are breathing a sigh of relief and will waste water. I guarantee it. Thanks to all of you above for agreeing with me.
STPUD had options, but they stuck to the old plan? What options. I want to know. I guess I missed something.
Robot, Keys has its own water system, straight out of the lake. Don’t know why they’re not required to have meters, maybe they will eventually. I know I work out there a lot and in summer the lawns feel positively spongey from over watering.
With regards to grant-funded meters, they were trying to install them in my neighborhood awhile back and ran into one problem after another with old, crumbling pipes. They gave up on it. But I PAID for my meter when I built my house. Wish I could have one paid for by a grant. . .
I am sure we will be paying our butts off for our meters. Some way or another. When this dies down and we all have to live with the decisions that have been made, there will be something else for all of us to get angry about. My next grip are our city streets. But there is no money. Maybe they can borrow some funds from STPUD, since they will have most of my paycheck. LOL
Oh one more thing. It is the state of California that is mandated that the meters be put in. We have a new Governor. Let’s start the process over.
Where to begin….
Dogwoman – how else are they supposed to bill you if not in arrears? They can’t predict the amount of water you will use, so they have no choice but to bill you after the fact – or “in arrears”. Learn how to read your meter so you’re not surprised when you get your bill.
Robot – perfectly stated. Drip or low emittance sprinklers use a fraction of the water that regular sprinklers use.
Geeper – they are on their own private well and not hooked up to public water.
Kitten – you’re right. They should have raised everyone’s rate 5,000% and hired a contractor to install all the water meters at once instead of installing them when legally able to do so (think winter and permitting and manpower)and in areas that make sense (like new construction which unfortunately included most of the burn area’s new construction)- and yes, I am also being sarcastic!
And as far as rates go – the second homeowners complain about susidizing “local” rates because they are “only in Tahoe once a year” and the locals complain about paying for second homeowners who bring 20 people up at a time – STPUD just can’t win.
STPUD are winning now. Winning.
STPUD will win! When they feal like they are not winning, guess what? They will raise your rates again.
dog, I think they, keys, have 3 wells that draw from lake but you can’t prove it, cuz the treatment requirements are less for wells than drinking water.
Time for class action?
It’s not a war. It’s called economics.
The four basic laws of supply and demand are:
1. If demand increases and supply remains unchanged, then it leads to higher equilibrium price and quantity.
2.If demand decreases and supply remains unchanged, then it leads to lower equilibrium price and quantity.
3.If supply increases and demand remains unchanged, then it leads to lower equilibrium price and higher quantity.
4.If supply decreases and demand remains unchanged, then it leads to higher price and lower quantity.
Do you really think that STPUD, who worked so hard year after year to exempt their customers from the State meter mandate, are out to get you? Get real.
NO, Bruce. The only ones who would win a class action suit are the lawyers. The rest of us would continue to pay.
Just wait till the smart meters show up on your wall for electricity. I have a friend in suther cal that now has one and his bill went up 400%. This is the new green wave, conserve or pay out your you know what. In my opinin there is not enough people who will step up and pack a board room, or show thier face to complain. And until there is hundreds or thousands of people standing in front of the STPUD office nothing will change. But lots of people would rather complain and not be known. Would be interesting to know how many people that are on here speaking thier mind have even been to a meeting or spoke to a board member. Maybe that should be a question for the new feature on LTN. First Question for it- How many times have you stood in a public forum to discuss local issues with elected officials so they understand what the public feels??
fireman; several times as well as articles for and against them.
Mick, the law of supply and demand doesn’t work in the case of government mandates. They get to make up their own rules and we have little or no choice in the matter.
Mick wrote”Do you really think that STPUD, who worked so hard year after year to exempt their customers from the State meter mandate, are out to get you? Get real.” Yes I do. Jim Jones has said that he did nothing for an alternitive or plan b if we did not get an exemption. He was so sure that we would get an exemption that he did nothing to try and protect us from this. He stated this at the last election during a forum but no one listened at the time and he was elected while also touting a 12% increase in rates that he has always wanted. STPUD is mandated by the state to READ the water meters but they are the ones who set the rate based on the water study they paid someone to do. 4 out of 5 board members do not have meters so the incentive is nil to protect the rate payers. You obviously do not have a meter so you can’t relate or get real.