BEFORE THE ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION
DOUG LITTLE, CHAIRMAN
BOB STUMP, COMMISSIONER
BOB BURNS, COMMISSIONER
TOM FORESE, COMMISSIONER
ANDY TOBIN, COMMISSIONER
| Arizona Corporation Commission Investigation into Potential Improvements to its Water Policies | Docket No. W-00000C-16-0151 |
PUBLIC COMMENT
A RATEPAYER PERSPECTIVE
The primary responsibility of the Commission is to ensure safe, reliable, adequate, and reasonably priced utility service to ratepayers and maintain financially healthy utility companies. For almost two decades the effort to consolidate the disjointed fragmented water/wastewater systems has gone without resolution. It is refreshing that Chairman Little and his Commissioners have elected to vigorously work toward resolution of solving the statewide problem of these small, fragmented borderline companies.
This docket and the subsequent presentations given on May 19, 2016 by a number of parties, prove testament to continuation of the effort.
The initial Policy Statements one through five (1-5) as initiated by the Commissioners are a good starting point. Of course, the development of a more strategic roadmap and action plan will need to be developed. A joint effort including the Commissioners, ACC Staff, RUCO, Large and Small Utility, Developer and Legislative representation would seem appropriate and necessary to move toward a successful solution.
At this point in the conversation, the main target seems to be an attempt to consolidate the Arizona water and wastewater industry by promoting the acquisition of the numerous small, underperforming companies throughout the state, currently under the control of the Commission, by the larger more stable companies in the state. This along with possible municipal and other consolidation type efforts make sense.
In the short-term, acquisitions and consolidations are generally detailed, comprehensive in nature, technical and expensive to one degree or another, for all parties concerned. However, if done correctly, the long-term paybacks are well worth the initial pain, particularly with the advent of likely escalating costs in the water and wastewater utility arena throughout the state. It is not to say that such efforts will be easy, particularly when it will likely be necessary to keep “cost causer” principles intact.
A concerted bilateral effort will be needed by all affected player types to effect a suitable long term solution. It would not suffice, for example, to put a consolidation program together while still allowing further development of outlier communities being serviced by small companies lacking economies of scale historically proven to be lacking in the ability to provide continued safe, reliable, adequate, and reasonably priced utility service to their ratepayers.
Good start – Let’s not come up short again.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this _____ day of __________________, 2016.
___________________________
Greg Eisert – Director SCHOA
AN ORIGINAL AND THIRTEEN COPIES
of the foregoing filed this ___ day
of _____________, 2016 with:
Docket Control
Arizona Corporation Commission
1200 West Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
COPIES of the foregoing hand delivered/
mailed/emailed this ____ day of ___________, 2016 to:
Arizona Corporation Commission
Janice Alward
1200 W. Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Arizona Corporation Commission
Thomas Broderick
1200 W. Washington St.
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Arizona Corporation Commission
Dwight Nodes
1200 W. Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007-2927
By:_______________________