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Regulatory Rate Filings | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2015
Regulated Operations [Abstract] |
Regulatory Rate Filings | Regulatory Rate Filings On September 15, 2014, San Jose Water Company filed an application for rehearing of 2012 General Rate Case Decision No. 14-08-006 to address a limited set of issues from San Jose Water Company's General Rate Case Decision No. 14-08-006. Specifically, San Jose Water Company sought rehearing on the duration of the interim rate period used to determine the General Rate Case true-up recovery and rehearing on the treatment of excess capacity labor in the provision of non-tariffed products and services. On March 27, 2015, the CPUC issued Decision No. 15-03-048 granting a limited rehearing and modifying Decision No. 14-08-006 to recover lost revenue related to the extension of interim rates from the date of the 2012 General Rate Case Decision (August 14, 2014) to the date 2014 rates became effective (September 29, 2014). San Jose Water Company filed for recovery of this additional interim true-up early in the second quarter of 2015. As the probability for revenue recognition was met during the first quarter of 2015, San Jose Water Company recorded revenue in the amount of $1,876. Please see table in Note 9. Decision No. 15-03-048 also provided for a limited rehearing on the treatment of excess capacity labor in the provision of non-tariffed products and services. San Jose Water Company submitted additional information in late April 2015 to the Commission and anticipates a decision on this issue by the end of the second quarter of 2015. On January 5, 2015, San Jose Water Company filed General Rate Case Application 15-01-002 requesting authority for an increase of $34,928, or 12.22%, in 2016, $9,954, or 3.11%, in 2017 and $17,567, or 5.36%, in 2018. This General Rate Case filing also includes several “special requests”, including but not limited to: (1) recovery of the under-collected balance of $4,752 in balancing accounts, (2) disbursement of the over-collected balance of $976 accrued in various memorandum accounts, and (3) implementation of a full revenue decoupling Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanism and associated Modified Cost Balancing Account. A General Rate Case is a year-long proceeding before the CPUC that involves a discovery phase led by the CPUC's Office of Ratepayer Advocates and customer intervenors that are assigned party status, settlement meetings, as well as possible evidentiary hearings. A final decision is expected to occur in the second half of 2015 with new rates becoming effective at the beginning of 2016. If a decision is not reached by the end of 2015, the CPUC has mechanisms in place that will allow San Jose Water Company to request interim rates, effective January 1, 2016, until such time a decision is adopted. On March 26, 2015, San Jose Water Company filed Advice Letter No. 468 with the CPUC. With this advice letter San Jose Water Company is requesting authorization to recover the $9,567 under-collection accumulated in the MCRAMA during the period April 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014. The MCRAMA approved by the CPUC allows San Jose Water Company to track lost revenue associated with reduced sales due to the ongoing drought and the associated calls for water use reduction from the SCVWD. San Jose Water Company seeks to recover the accumulated balance via a quantity based surcharge on all potable usage for a period of 12 months. San Jose Water Company has requested that this surcharge be implemented on June 1, 2015, however this surcharge request will require a Commission Resolution which may not be completed until after the requested implementation date. On April 9, 2015, the CPUC issued Resolution W-5034 ordering water utility compliance with the State Water Board's Resolution No. 2015-0015, adopting a new 2015 emergency regulation for statewide urban water conservation and re-adopting the 2014 emergency regulation. Amongst other items, the resolution directs utilities to notify customers of the State Water Board's mandatory water use restrictions and fines, to implement either mandatory outdoor irrigation restrictions or, alternatively, mandatory water conservation measures, and to add a Tariff Rule 14.1 as soon as practicable. Tariff Rule 14.1 focuses primarily on restrictions of outdoor water use which accounts for 50% of a typical customer's water usage. Effective September 1, 2014, CLWSC became subject to the economic regulation of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (“PUCT”). Prior to that time CLWSC was subject to economic regulation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”). Both the PUCT and TCEQ authorize rate increases after the filing of an Application for a Rate/Tariff Change. Rate cases may be filed as they become necessary, provided there is no current rate case outstanding. Further, rate cases may not be filed more frequently than once every 12 months.

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