NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA — A rate increase proposed by utility Aqua Pennsylvania (Aqua PA) could cost the average user an extra $16 a month on their water bills. 

The utility submitted a request for a rate increase to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) on May 23. The increase would net the company an additional $126 million in annual operating revenue, an 18.8% increase over its projected revenue without the rate increase. 

Aqua PA says it needs the increase to fund infrastructure improvements it is carrying out across its system. 

An average residential customer, using 3,870 gallons of water per month, would see their bill increase nearly 20%, from $80.91 to $97.01, according to Aqua PA. The increase on a typical monthly residential wastewater bill would be slightly smaller; those bills would go from $81.18 to $96.10. 

The PUC is investigating the rate increase request and will make a final decision by February 22, 2025. 

Reason for rate increase

The proposed increase is "the minimum rate increase necessary to enable the company to earn a reasonable return on its investment in property devoted to the public service," Aqua PA claimed in its rate filing. 

The company said that it will have replaced around 200 miles of water main and hundreds of fire hydrants between April 2023 and the end of 2025. In addition, it said it will have rehabilitated water and wastewater treatment plants, addressed new types of contamination and upgraded its pump systems. 

All together, the company says it will have made around $950 million dollars in infrastructure investments by the end of 2025.

 "We are at a critical point when it comes to our water and wastewater infrastructure here in Pennsylvania and across the country," said Aqua PA President Marc Lucca. 

The company last filed for rate increases in August 2021. The PUC approved the increases in May 2022. However, the PUC approved "substantially lower than requested" increases for its water and wastewater services, around 30% less than what Aqua PA requested, according to a PUC press release. 

Where things stand

The PUC has been reviewing Aqua PA's rate filing since earlier in the year, as the commission voted in June to investigate the rate increase requests. 

In August, the PUC held 11 public hearings looking for feedback, and "we saw strong participation in those hearings," said PUC Press Secretary Nils Hagen-Frederiksen. 

Hagen-Frederiksen said that hearings for testimony from expert witnesses were scheduled for the second and third weeks of October. Final written briefs are due by the first week of November, after which the judges in the case will begin working on a recommendation to the PUC. The PUC's final decision is due by February 22, 2025.