HOWELL – Customers of the New Jersey American Water Company are learning this week that the utility may be seeking to raise its rates by 20 to 25 percent.
N
ew Jersey American informed the
township in December that it was planning to file an application for a rate increase with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) this week.
On Jan. 8, representatives fromHowell met with New JerseyAmerican executives in Lakewood to hear more about the proposed rate increase. Township Manager Helene Schlegel, Township Attorney Ernest Bongiovanni and resident Rob Nicastro represented Howell.
Mayor Joseph DiBella was unable to attend the meeting. The mayor is on record as calling the notice of the proposed rate hike unacceptable.
Following the meeting with the water company representatives, Nicastro and Schlegel both quoted the potential 20 to 25 percent rate hike.
According to Nicastro, New Jersey American cannot charge developers connection fees. Because of that, “they have no way of offsetting their revenues.”
Nicastro said residents do not have a problem paying for reliable quality water and for sewer service. However, he said there is a huge disparity in Howell’s
rates compared to neighboring
municipalities.
“My hope is that they try to put the sewer and
water charges on an
even playing field,” he
said. “We are prepared to
contribute to the cost of
improving and protecting the water environment, but the disparity in what many homeowners pay is huge compared to the municipal sewer authorities of neighboring towns. That is not fair.”
Nicastro has asked the Howell Township Council to object to New JerseyAmerican’s request for a rate increase, which comes only a few years after the company’s most recent rate hike that was granted by the BPU.
New JerseyAmerican’s letter to Howell states that the proposed rate increase comes as a result of the company’s effort “to invest a substantial level of capital to upgrade facilities statewide while absorbing increased chemical and energy costs.”
“The proposed rate adjustment will reflect the substantial investment in infrastructure the company continues to make in order to provide high quality, reliable water service to over two million residents throughout the state,” New Jersey American executives said in the letter to Howell.