Towns unite to fend off big water fee hike

Hingham, Hull, and Cohasset, where residents say they already pay more for water service than residents in other towns, have joined forces and hired a consultant to help them fight a pending 21 percent rate increase by Aquarion Water Co. of Massachusetts.

The increase must win the approval of the state Department of Public Utilities before it can go into effect, and the three communities have already filed motions with the state to intervene in the rate-setting process. Administrative hearings before the Department of Public Utilities were scheduled last week for November.

"The administrative hearing process is where the case is looked at with the highest scrutiny," said Hull Town Manager Philip Lemnios. Attorneys James Lampke and James Toomey, town counsels for Hull and Hingham, respectively, will represent the three towns during the hearings.

Lemnios said engineering consultant David Russell, hired by the three towns to prepare their case, has helped the trio successfully negotiate lower increases twice in the past with previous water providers.

If the 21 percent increase is approved, it will raise a typical residential customer's bill by $130 a year. A typical annual bill would go from $611to $741.

In its 500-page application, Aquarion said the increase is needed to pay for improvements the firm has made to the water system since taking over in 2002. According to Larry Bingaman, the company's vice president, Aquarion has done $21.4 million in system improvements.

"This is money we invested up front, and now we want to cover the cost," Bingaman said.

Aquarion is a subsidiary of the largest investor-owned water utility in New England and the 10th largest in the nation. It took over water service to the three South Shore towns, along with Oxford and Millbury, in 2002. Water rates have not increased since 2001.

While Aquarion hoped to raise its rates to its 12,500 customers in Hingham, Hull, and Cohasset by year end, the DPU said last week that the new rate would not go into effect until April 1.

Russell, meanwhile, is reviewing Aquarion's application on behalf of the towns to determine if the increase is warranted.

"He'll go through that filing with a fine-tooth comb," Lemnios said.

While officials may be forced to negotiate a compromise with Aquarion, State Representative Garrett Bradley, a Hingham Democrat, submitted a letter to the Department of Public Utilities recently asking for an outright denial of the rate increase.

"The company is asking for an increase based, in large part, on infrastructure improvements," Bradley wrote. "However, these improvements were done because the company was under a consent order by the state to stop the 20 percent of leaks in their system. Now the company is trying to lay that burden back on the ratepayers. This is wrong."

Bradley suggested the company was is seeking a "money grab" that will hurt larger families and small businesses.

The general public was allowed to register its comments on the proposed increase hike at a hearing held on July 16.

Speakers at a July hearing said their rates were already much higher than in neighboring towns.

Lifelong Hull resident David Walsh said Hull water users are paying significant surcharges for their water to be treated at the town's water treatment plant, yet some of their water never passes through the plant, coming instead from one of the other two towns.

"We shouldn't even be talking about a rate increase," said Walsh. "We should be getting a rebate from this company."

Local officials urged the Department of Public Utilities to decrease the rates and scrutinize the surcharge.

"Our rates are already 58 percent higher than the MWRA's," said Hingham Selectman Bruce Rabuffo.

"We find this request overwhelming to say the least."

"Hull is a small town and most of the people are blue-collar," said Joan Meschino, chairwoman of the Hull Board of Selectmen."Forty percent are low-income and many are aging. . . . These are difficult times for all our constituents."

Meschino's colleague Selectman Dennis Blackall said that if the requested increase is approved, "our water rates will be four times what Plymouth's are."

Supriya Sen, who said he recently moved from Holbrook to Hingham, said: "I am shocked to see the water bills you have here. Holbrook does a better job."

Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com.