Rate-paying Immediate Winners, Losers in Elk Grove Water District Rate Hikes

July 23, 2018 |  

At their last meeting on Wednesday, July 18, the directors of the Florin Resources Conservation District approved a long-term rate increase for their wholly-owned Elk Grove Water District ratepayers. While the bulk of the rate increases are designed to take effect in three years, some ratepayers will see an immediate increase in their monthly water bill.

The rates approved will drop the monthly base rate charged to residential customers, but the rate per CCF, which for the purposes of water usage is one hundred cubic feet or 748 gallons, has increased. The residential base rate dropped to $61.67 per month from $66.67.

While the monthly base fee has dropped, in all residential categories, which is primarily based on a one-inch meter rate, the price for CCF increased. For customers consuming less than 30 CCF per month, the rate increases to $1.92 from $1.57 and the rate over 30 CCF per month increased to $4.04 from $3.11.

Depending on use, for the next two years, customers using small amounts of water will experience smaller monthly bills. Likewise, customers above about 15 CCF's per month, monthly water bills will go up once the new rates are applied.

According to a report from the California Legislative Analyst Office, a typical Californian used about 85 gallons of water per day in 2016. For a household of four people, that would be about 13.6 CCF's per month  

A customer using 5 CCF's per month will see their bill decrease to $70.75 per month from the currrent $74.52. A household of four people, according to the Legislative Analyst Office, would consume about 13.6 CCF's per month, and using Elk Grove rates, would experience a monthly bill of $87.26, which compare to $88.02 under the previous rate structure.

With the new rate structure, customers will pay higher bills once they exceed 16 CCF's, or 11,968 gallons a month. The monthly bill under the new rates for 16 CCF's would be $91.97 compared to $91.79 while customers using 25 CCF's will see a new bill of $109.15 compared to their previous $105.92 monthly bill.   

The more substantial hikes under the new rates for the next two years come to high water consumers, those uses exceeding 30 CCF's per month. A customer using 35 CCF's will pay now $138.45 from $129.32 per month. 

While some ratepayers will immediately experience higher monthly bills, by 2022 all customers on one-inch residential meters will pay higher rates. The low-end user consuming 5 CCF's per month will pay $77.32 compared to $70.75 while larger consumers using 35 CCF's will pay $151.92 compared to the new current rate of $138.45. 

The new rates are effective January 1, 2019.