Oct. 8--PRINCETON -- In difficult economic times, area residents on low or fixed incomes do not need another increase in their water bills, Public Service Commission of West Virginia representatives were told Tuesday while hearing public comment about a proposed hike in water rates.

West Virginia-American Water Company is seeking a 12.37 percent increase, Michael A. Miller, the company's vice president and treasurer, said before the hearing at the Princeton Municipal Building. If the entire rate increase is approved by the PSC, the average bill for a residential customer would increase by $5.10 a month, approximately 17 cents a day, he said. A 14 percent rate increase went into effect on March 26, 2008.

Miller said the water company was requesting the increase to help cover investments in utility elements such as mains, hydrants, meters and treatment plants. There are also increased costs for employee pay, insurance and retirement benefits. A third factor driving higher prices is the cost of petroleum. Many water treatment chemicals are based on oil, plus the company must fuel a fleet of 300 vehicles, he said.

Citizens and area officials who went on the record before Administrative Law Judge John Carter and Michael Albert, head of the PSC, said they are already paying the highest water rates in West Virginia and the country as a whole.

Princeton area resident Robert Pennington said his last water bill was $47, up from $32 last year. He added that his neighborhood of almost 50 homes was served by a 2 inch water main.

"If they're going to raise it (rates) they need to fix what they've got," he said.

Lashmeet resident Janet Heaton said that she and her husband pay $50 a month for water while their daughter, who lives with three other people in Morgantown, pay an average of $8.90 a month.

"We don't have the option of going to the PSC and asking for an increase," she said.

Bluefield citizen John Shott said he while he was representing himself as a resident and business owner, he was also representing the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce and Bluefield State College; both the chamber and college oppose the increase, he said. A rate hike could add up to $9,200 in operating fees for the BSC Research and Development Corporation, which operates a residence hall in Bluefield. Approximately 80 percent of the students rely on government assistance.

Bluefield Mayor Linda Whalen, who said the city's residents pay exceptionally high prices for utilities, said Bluefield did not always have the "luxury" of requesting higher rates as expenses rise.

"I think the water company and other utilities should have to operate under the same constraints," she said. City Attorney Brian Cochran presented a petition asking the PSC to either deny the increase or "reduce it drastically."

If approved, the proposed rate increase would not be effective until March 26, 2009. The PSC will hold an evidentiary hearing Dec. 8 at its headquarters in Charleston.

-----

To see more of Bluefield Daily Telegraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bdtonline.com/.

Copyright (c) 2008, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

OTC-PINK:WVAW,