Evergreen Headline

"Water Rates are Going up Again."

With apologies to the U.S. Post Office, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these water rates from swiftly increasing on customers' bimonthly bills."

Nothing customers do will prevent the increases. When we let our lawns die due to the drought, the fixed sewer charges (imposed even if one doesn't use any water) rose to $100 per month. Now that water is plentiful from the winter rains, the rates are still going up.

The reason is "due to projected increases in the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) wholesale water rates and to provide necessary revenue for the maintenance, operation, and capital costs associated with the water distribution enterprise over a five-year term."

Economics 101 teaches that public utilities are often monopolies, can impose whatever prices they want, and therefore need to be regulated. "Regulatory capture" commonly occurs, and the regulatory agency usually rubber-stamps price increases.

That's why our water rates always go up, no matter how much or how little rain we get.