The Public Service Commission agreed Tuesday to allow a $2.6 million rate increase for Aqua Utilities Florida – much less than what the company was asking for.
The decision came after customers bused to Tallahassee to tell the PSC that the company didn’t deserve an increase because they say the company’s service is bad and its water is not clean enough.
The water and waste-water company initially sought a $4.1 million increase — though Aqua lawyer Bruce May said during the hearing that it would go along with a PSC staff recommendation for a smaller increase.
Dozens of customers and elected officials, including two lawmakers, spoke against the proposed increase.
“You can’t cook with it, you can’t clean with it, you can’t bathe with it,’’ Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano told the PSC.
But May said the rate increase would help pay for system improvements.
The PSC reduced what it will allow the company to collect for a number of specified needs, ranging from its return on equity to its proposed costs for lobbying and salaries and wages.
The commission also established a tiered rate structure that will encourage conservation.
