Hawai‘i Water Service Files General Rate Case for Waikoloa Areas

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Hawai‘i Water Service (HWS), a subsidiary of California Water Service Group, has filed a General Rate Case with the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission (HPUC) seeking recovery of capital investments in its Waikoloa Village and Waikoloa Resort systems. If approved as filed, total annual revenue for the water provider would increase by $3.8 million.

The filing requests additional revenue of $205,026 for the Waikoloa Resort water system, $2,046,590 for the wastewater system, and $48,988 for the irrigation system, which also provides recycled water service to customers.

The requested increase reflects, in part, upgrades made to the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system; construction of two new water wells; upgrades to a third well, electrical building, water mains and a storage tank; relocation of wastewater mains; piping for a wastewater pump station; and the remainder of the new wastewater treatment plant (R-plant) construction. While customers have been served by the R-plant since 2012, HWS had previously included only a portion of the plant in rates to reduce the cost impact for customers.

In Waikoloa Village, annual revenue would increase by $728,105 for the water system and $714,059 for the wastewater system. Among the upgrades reflected in this request are SCADA improvements, construction of the two above-mentioned water wells shared with the Waikoloa Resort system, improvements to a third water well and electrical building shared with the Resort system, wastewater piping repairs, construction of the wastewater treatment plant (K-plant), and purchase of a jetting/vacuum truck.

“We are committed to ensuring our Waikoloa customers continue to have high-quality, reliable water, wastewater, and irrigation service that meets all standards, and we have made significant improvements in the systems to keep our customers and environment safe,” said Martin A. Kropelnicki, president and CEO of Hawai‘i Water Service. “At the same time, we work hard to keep costs down, so that we can deliver on our promise to provide quality, service, and value to our customers.”

HPUC will review HWS’s operations, finances, service and capital improvements before approving any rate changes. No change is expected to become effective until the fourth quarter of 2018.

HWS will host on open house event in February 2018 to help the community learn more about the case filing, infrastructure improvements, benefits and impact. Additional information is available online at www.calwatergroup.com.