Aqua Virginia received a copy of the Wintergreen Valley Association’s (WVA) February 29, 2024 email regarding Aqua Virginia’s application to the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) requesting an increase in water and wastewater utility rates. After review of the WVA email, we would like to share the following information:
When new water and wastewater systems are received by Aqua, our engineering and operations team immediately starts working in the new community that we serve. This work includes regular operation and maintenance activities along with a needs assessment of the existing infrastructure to determine what improvements are needed in the system to maintain compliance with state and federal regulations.
Aqua follows the SCC guidance when incorporating systems into a consolidated rate structure, as a result it is common for a newly acquired systems experience an incremental increase in rates until they normalize over time.
Aqua is focused on operational and infrastructure improvements to provide safe, reliable water and wastewater service in the communities that we serve, and periodic rate increases are needed to ensure that we are meeting our commitment to our customers.
Costs associated with this proposed rate increase would recover money spent on infrastructure investment already spent by Aqua, ongoing capital infrastructure improvements, as well as operation and maintenance costs to run our water and wastewater systems.
Aqua is currently working on water treatment improvements to construct a new treatment building that will house new equipment for upgraded treatment including disinfection and pH adjustment of the well water prior to entering the 400,000-gallon water storage tank in the Stoney Creek Village community. After the proposed improvements are constructed and placed in operation, the permitted capacity of the entire waterworks will be re-evaluated.
Aqua is in the preliminary phases of a future Wastewater Treatment Plant rehabilitation program. The initial phase facility condition assessment and capacity analysis. We are currently installing a storage building near the facility for operation and maintenance equipment.
Information about projects in the Stoney Creek/Wintergreen system and other systems throughout the state can be found in Aqua’s rate application on the SCC’s website.
The SCC rules allow Aqua to collect temporary interim rates prior to the Final Ordered rates that are expected to be received in late 2024. If the interim rates that were put in place on February 5, 2024, are higher than the final approved Ordered rates a refund will be issued to the customers for the over-billing during this period.
Aqua respects the SCC’s process to review rate applications and we encourage our customers to learn more about Aqua’s application and our commitment to provide safe reliable water and wastewater service to our customers. The Docket assigned to the rate case is PUR-2023-00073 and the details of the case may be found on the SCC website www.scc.virginia.gov.
via Heather Keefer, Regional Communications Specialist for Aqua based in Cary, NC.
