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The FPSC General Counsel, Curt Kiser, has been notified of the statements made by his predesessor, Booter Imhoff, regarding the Commission’s ability to deny the Aqua Utilities rate case.   In 2009, Mr. Imhoff advised the Commissioners that they had the authority to deny a rate case, if the quality of service was found to be “inefficient”.

The Commissioners downgraded Aqua’s quality of service from “satisfactory” to “marginal”, in May of 2011.   Since then, the Commissioners had to attend formal customer hearings, where they got more than an earful of the awful quality of service Aqua has been subjecting its customers to.

In addition, these Commissioners were presented with an enormous amount of well-documented testimony at the Technical Hearing held this past November.   Testimony that Aqua’s counsel had difficulty refuting.

Inefficient quality of service has been soundly established, and it should be downgraded, even further, to “unsatisfactory”.

It won’t come as a surpise, if the FPSC Staff offers a ‘pro-Aqua’ recommendation to the Commissioners.  Their “don’t ask – don’t tell” attitude has been extremely detrimental when it comes to protecting the customers.   Voluntarily offering important information to the Commissioners seems to have lost its appeal.  Keeping the Commissioners in the dark is a bad policy.

The final order for the current Aqua rate case will be decided on February 14th.  Hopefully, General Counsel Kiser will have no difficulty in bringing to light the vast expanse of the Commission’s ”great discretion”, and its authority to deny a rate case, if the quality of service is inefficient (North Florida Water v. Bevis).

Another disgraceful act of customer “dis-service” by Aqua America and its subsidiary in North Caroline.

See link below for full article.

http://www.foxcharlotte.com/news/nc-news/Aqua-North-Carolina-Gets-Paid-Still-Cuts-Sewer-Service-138013778.html

SB1244 and HB1379 have been introduced in both the Senate and House.  It is critical that every Senator and Representative hear from their constituents, in order to get these bills passed.

Below, you will find a link that will help you contact your district senator and representative.  It’s so easy…… just enter your zip code and street address…… and a brief two-paragraph letter pops up and is ready to send.

Tell everyone you know to join in, even if they aren’t Aqua customers.  The more of these letters that are sent, the greater the impact.

http://acton.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8598

Who: Florida Public Service Commissioners
What: Aqua Rate Case 100330-WS (Final Hearing)
When: Feb. 14th, 2012 (Tuesday)
Where: Tallahassee
Why: Because it’s really important!

A full room of customers is a legitimate show of power. It lets these Commissioners
know that it’s not just Frank Reams and Dave Bussey stirring the pot. When customers
drive 4 hours to an agenda conference, it delivers a much stronger message than you can
imagine.

J.R. Kelly, head of the Office of Public Counsel, which represents you before the
Commission, thinks you should attend.

Senators Fasano, Storms, and Hays all think it’s very important for you to be there.

And so do Representatives Weatherford, Legg, Brodeur, Stargel and Dockery.

This is your final opportunity to let the Commission know you still care and are still
involved.

Buses are scheduled to leave from:

Zephyrhills (East Pasco County)

Port Richey (West Pasco County)

Scottish Highlands (Leesburg area)

See you in Tallahassee.

Just  follow the link below, its easy just add your name and address, and any personal comments to the bottom of the letter.

http://acton.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8598

The Florida Public Commission will make a ruling on the Aqua rate case which was first ruled on May of 2010, however that ruling was protested by the Office of Public Counsel. The commission scheduled 10 field hearings for customer to voice their feelings and after 5 days of technical hearings in late November and early December the Commissioners will now consider the staff receommendation and determine what the correct amount of increase should be.

Tampa Tribune third article of a series of stories on Pasco County people to watch in 2012

Please click the link below for full story:

http://www2.tbo.com/news/politics/2012/jan/11/panewso1-state-rep-will-weatherford-doesnt-shirk-t-ar-345955/

Why should you attend? The first time we went, we took 55 customers. After hearing our concerns, the Commissioners decided to continue monitoring Aqua’s over-all quality of service (no free pass).

Last year, we took 110 customers. After hearing our concerns, the Commissioners decided to down-grade Aqua’s quality of service to “marginal”.  Again, no free pass.

Since then the Commissioners have had to come out into the field and listen to the many problems we are having with this “water profiteer”.

Technical hearings were then held, and significant, documented testimony was provided that shed more light on the inability of Aqua to provide reasonable quality of service, at affordable prices.

In addition, the House and Senate have introduced bills, that when passed, will put an end to any large investor owned utility’s ability to take advantage of its customers.

This time we are planning on having at least 200-250 customers attend the conference.

The most powerful message we can send these Commissioners is our presence at this Agenda Conference.  Time after time, we’ve been encouraged to get as many customers to attend as possible, because it is a proven fact that this is the most effective way to get their attention.

We understand that some of you cannot come with us – not a problem.  But someone once said that to know to do the right thing and chose not to do it, because it might cause some temporary inconvenience or hardship, is, well, perhaps an even greater problem.

HB 1379 – Water and Wastewater Utilities by Rep. Jason Brodeur:

Water and Wastewater Utilities: Prohibits Public Service Commission from approving tiered rates based upon customer consumption; requires commission to make certain findings in utility rate case expenses; provides limitations for rate case expense recovery; requires design & operation standards for systems; requires commission to establish mechanism by which monetary penalties are imposed on utility systems that fail to provide sufficient quality of service; provides for counties to assume operation & control of utilities under specified conditions; creates Study Committee on Investor-Owned Water and Wastewater Utility Systems & provides for report & future termination.

On January 8th, 2012, Rep. Jason Brodeur, District 33 (parts of Orange, Seminole and Volousia counties) filed HB1379, similar to SB1244.

Thank you Rep. Brodeur for all your hard work over the last several weeks.

The House and Senate bills are somewhat similar.  Rep. Brodeur has some additional language in his version.

Click on link below to see entire bill:

http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h1379__.docx&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=1379&Session=2012

Legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and the House.  It is critical that every Senator and Representative hear from their constituents, in order to get the necessary changes made.

We have prepared letters for you to send to them. The more of these letters that are sent, the greater the impact we will have in getting the legislation passed.  Tell everyone you know to help us.

Invite everyone all over the State of Florida to contact their Senator and Representative, even if they aren’t directly affected by any water problems, because we need as many legislators as possible supporting these bills.

There are a couple of easy ways to do this:

1)  Go to the link below, type in your zip code and street address, and your Senator and Representative’s pictures will pop up, along with a simple letter you can send to each of them.

http://acton.foodandwaterwatch.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8598

2)  We have prepared “fax” letters, with your senator and representatives’s names and fax numbers.  The same simple letter is included, followed by a few lines where you can add your name and address.  These work really well at your weekly coffee n’ donuts, potlucks, bingo, park business meetings, etc.  Have lots of pens ready, so folks don’t have to stand in line too long, then gather them up and fax away.

If you need the “fax” letters, contact Dave Bussey at dbussey@hotmail.com, or call 813-713-9796 and leave a message.  Dave’s not a “fast” listener, so speak clearly and slow.

Your participation has a much greater impact than you can possibly imagine.  Please help us help you.

Dave and Frank