By Reader Staff
CDS Stoneridge Utilities, based in Blanchard, is asking the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for permission to raise the rates it charges customers for new water hook-ups in the community it serves just east of the Idaho-Washington border in southern Bonner County.
According to the utility, which stated in its filing with the IPUC that it performed 69 new connections from 2020-’23, it no longer has in-house contractors who are able to perform new hook-ups, while costs from third-party bids have increased dramatically in recent years, requiring an “emergency increase” to its fees allowed by the commission. Specifically, the utility company stated that costs had risen “in excess of 20%, especially considering parts/materials, labor and fuel oil.”
An aerial view of the Stoneridge area in Blanchard. Screen capture.
The charge for a complete installation would increase to $9,000, up from $3,500. CDS Stoneridge Utilities told the commission that most new homes in the area typically request one-inch service meters, rather than the ¾-inch meters that had been used, and the new rates are for both ¾- and one-inch hook-ups.
Other charges include $6,000 for excavation or horizontal boring across roadways (up from $1,800); $5,500 for pit setter and meter only (an increase from almost $3,000); $5,000 for tap main and installation service to the curb (up from $1,512); and $2,000 for meter installation and water turn-on only (increased from $533).
Applicants requesting a connection larger than one inch would pay actual construction costs.
According to the application, CDS Stoneridge Utilities took in nearly $49,000 in new connection revenue in 2022 but installation costs rose to more than $70,000.
Written comments are being accepted until Feb. 15, 2024. Comments are required to be filed through the commission’s website or by email, unless computer access is not available. To comment electronically, visit puc.idaho.gov. Click on the “Case Comment Form” link on the upper left side of the page and complete it using case number SWS-W-23-02. If filing by email, comments are required to be submitted to the commission secretary at [email protected] and CDS Stoneridge Utilities at [email protected].
If computer access is not available, comments can be mailed to the commission at Commission Secretary; Idaho Public Utilities Commission; P.O. Box 83720; Boise, ID 83720-0074 or CDS Stoneridge Utilities at Teresa Zamora, Administrative Assistant; CDS Stoneridge Utilities, LLC; P.O. Box 298; Blanchard, ID 83804. For express mail, address comments to Idaho Public Utilities Commission; 11331 W. Chinden Blvd.; Building 8, Suite 201-A; Boise, ID 83714.
Additional information is available at puc.idaho.gov/case/Details/7208.
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