By Rusty Bradshaw

Independent Newsmedia

Sun Cities residents will see another cost increase for wastewater service if the Arizona Corporation Commission approves EPCOR Water Co. officials latest request.

Some of the old sewer pipe removed along Olive Avenue south of Sun City.

Water company officials are seeking a system improvement benefit mechanism, which is a formal term for a surcharge, to be added to customers’ bills. The surcharge, according to a public hearing notice sent to customers last week, is designed to give the company a return on investments to be made on Sun Cities infrastructure between rate cases.

“This is something that was not in the rate case that was approved by the ACC during the summer,” said Greg Eisert, Sun City Home Owners Association board member and SCHOA Governmental Affairs Committee chairman. “We’ll see this again with the water rate case.”

EPCOR in August filed a rate case for its water districts, which includes consolidating 11 Arizona districts and will mean a substantial rate increase following a five-year phase-in of new rates, similar to what was approved for the wastewater districts.

ACC officials scheduled a public hearing on the wastewater SIB request for 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 26 at the ACC office, 1200 W. Washington St., Phoenix. Residents can attend the hearing in person or provide written comments for Docket No. WS-01303A-16-01-45 to the ACC office address or on its website www.azcc.gov.

“We will be serving as an intervener on the request,” Mr. Eisert said.

EPCOR officials plan to make 11,588,588 in improvements to pipes and manholes in Sun City through 2021. In Sun City West they expect to make $6.5 million in improvements to pipes and manholes.

EPCOR crews started one such project in Sun City Dec. 14 in which some aging and disintegrating sewer pipes were replaced. The work was expected to be completed by Dec. 21, according to Ms. Stenholm.

“Our team is continuously monitoring and assessing the collections system, and making repairs and replacements as needed,” Ms. Stenholm stated.

A bird's eye view inside old and degrading sewer pipe along Olive Avenue south of Sun City.

Similar to the wastewater and water rate case proposals, EPCOR officials will phase-in the surcharge, with a 41-cent surcharge added to customers bill in the first year. The surcharge would increase to 93 cents in year two, $1.46 in year three, $2 in year four and $2.43 in the final year of phase-in.

After the wastewater rate case and consolidation was approved by the ACC in June, EPCOR officials filed the SIB request in November, according to Rebecca Stenholm, EPCOR spokeswoman.

“Our request for a SIB was included in the June 2017 Arizona Corporation Commission decision that approved wastewater consolidation, and this application begins the process for the SIB program,” she explained via email.

The SIB request is under review by the ACC. During the Feb. 26 public hearing, the information in the application will be reviewed and there will be a chance for the parties to the application to ask questions similar to a hearing in rate case applications, according to Ms. Stenholm. After the hearing, the judge assigned to the application will issue a recommended order and opinion, after which it will be placed on an open meeting schedule where the commissioners will review the request and make a decision on it, she added.