Aquarion Asks DPU to Raise Water Prices in Hingham

Yesterday  began a series of hearings in which Aquarion Water Company of Massachusetts is asking the Department of Public Utilities to approve a water rate increase of over 16.5 percent on monthly water bills for the towns of Hingham, Hull, and Cohasset.

The hearings at the DPU are scheduled for five days and will conclude next week. The Town of Hingham expects that the DPU will issue a ruling sometime in March of 2012.

The Hingham Board of Selectmen feels that in this economy, an increase in water rates is “excessive” and “unconscionable.”  The Hingham Selectmen will be offering testimony at the hearing in opposition to the proposed rate increase.

State Senator Hedlund (R-Weymouth) who represents Hingham,  called Aquarion’s current rate hike proposal “the most outrageous one yet.”

In 2009, Aquarion was granted an increase of over 20 percent which the Town of Hingham opposed.

Hedlund’s legislation seeks to give the Attorney General, the top Massachusetts consumer protection advocate, the same intervening power on behalf of water utility consumers that the office currently holds in cases involving gas, electricity and telecommunications utilities.

“The problem is that years ago when the DPU structure was set up, water wasn’t an issue," Hedlund said. "It was plentiful and it was cheap. Most water was distributed by municipalities, so there was no need for the attorney general’s office to get involved. Now that has changed in several communities.”

In June, Hedlund, the Board of Selectmen, along with State Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham) spoke out against the increase at a public hearing organized  by the water company at the Hingham Town Hall.

“We would appreciate some relief,”  Bradley said back in June. “Everybody else in this particular time is doing more with less and we hope Aquarion and its share holders will do the same.”

According to Aquarion Vice President of operations Harry Hibbard, the rates will increase because expenses for the company have risen by $1.9 million. The company has also stated that revenues are down by $300,000, and there has been Capital investment of $3.9 million over three years.

Aquarion said the rates would even be higher if the company had not reduced the power and chemical costs by switching from potassium hydroxide to sodium hydroxide .  The company said they also cut costs by reducing their staff,  upgrading the lighting in the treatment plant and upgrading to more efficient electrical motors at treatment facilities and pump stations.