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A DAY AT THE CAPITOL
Your staffers at the WPOA voluntarily spent the entire day of March 31, 2009, at the Capitol in Austin speaking on behalf of our community and your neighbors regarding concerns about Aqua Texas and other water provider utilities throughout Texas. Also spending the day with us was one of your neighbors: Ms. Sue Hollis who had received a letter from Mr. Rose inviting her to speak on these issues. Apparently, anyone in our area who had expressed themselves to Mr. Rose about Aqua Texas rates, etc. had received similar letters and similar invitations.
Janelle Delaney, the WPOA office manager and the administrative assistant, Sue Csejka had been specifically called upon to testify about these issues by our local State Representative, Patrick Rose; Bill Bradfield, WPOA Roads Manager, went along to voice his very strong concerns also. Mr. Rose is sponsoring a bill (HB 3366) which relates to the rates charged by a water and sewer utility and referred to the Natural Resources Committee for public hearing on afore-mentioned date.
The process is very interesting to say the least and made for a long day…getting there at 10 AM and not leaving until 5 PM. Our testimonies were not taken until about 4 or 4:30 that afternoon after listening to the utilities’ side of the story…ad nauseum!!! Several water utilities were represented, all having the same story for the way their rates and rate increases are configured…all using basically the same rationale for adding recovery of legal fees and deferred capital expense surcharges…all feeling perfectly justified in their right to subject the ratepayers to these increased, exorbitant fees…and all alluding to TCEQ’s saying grace over these increases.
The outrage over the utilities’ total disregard for the ratepayers is spread over the entire State as seen by the public representation seated in that hearing room on that day. Aqua Texas is, by far, the most outrageous of these offenders; running rampant over all areas of their coverage.
As of this date, we do not know that this bill has made it out of Committee to the Calendars Committee and later to the floor of the Senate for discussion/resolution. Patrick Rose’s office will keep us apprised of their progress in this regard.
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