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Regulatory Rate Filings | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2016
Regulated Operations [Abstract] |
Regulatory Rate Filings | Regulatory Rate Filings On January 5, 2015, San Jose Water Company filed General Rate Case Application No. 15-01-002 requesting authority for an increase of revenue 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. The ORA submitted testimony on April 23 2015, recommending increases of $23,468, or 8.54%, in 2016, $13,803, or 4.42%, in 2017 and $16,261, or 4.95% in 2018. San Jose Water Company and the CPUC's Office of Ratepayer Advocates (“ORA”) reached a settlement agreement on a range of issues, including full settlement on all contested utility plant in-service items. Evidentiary hearings to address all remaining unsettled items took place in June 2015 and briefs were submitted in July 2015. Since a decision was not reached by the end of 2015, the CPUC authorized San Jose Water Company to implement interim rates, effective January 1, 2016, until such time as a decision is adopted. Interim rates have been set equal to calendar year-end 2015 rates and will remain in effect until a decision is adopted. Any difference between interim rates and the rates ultimately approved will be tracked in a memorandum account and will submitted to the CPUC for recovery or refund. On April 22, 2016 the CPUC issued a proposed decision that is scheduled to be voted on at the May 26, 2016 CPUC business meeting. On July 30, 2015, San Jose Water Company filed Application No. 15-07-027 with the CPUC seeking the authorization to implement a reincorporation of San Jose Water Company's parent holding company, SJW Corp., from its present form as a California corporation to a Delaware corporation. A prehearing conference was held in this matter on September 30, 2015. A decision in this matter is anticipated in the second quarter of 2016. On December 11, 2015, San Jose Water Company along with three other California water utilities (the “Joint Parties”), filed a request for a one year postponement of their 2016 Cost of Capital (“COC”) filings scheduled for March 31, 2016. Pursuant to the CPUC's rate case plan, the Joint Parties were required to file their COC applications on a triennial basis with the next scheduled filing due on March 31, 2016. Postponing the filing for one year would alleviate administrative processing costs on the Joint Parties as well as the CPUC staff. On February 1, 2016, the CPUC's executive director approved the Joint Parties request for a one year postponement. Joint Parties are now required to file their next COC applications by March 31, 2017. On December 15, 2015, San Jose Water Company filed Advice Letter No. 481 with the CPUC requesting authorization to re-implement a previously existing surcharge of $0.0492 per CCF to amortize the remaining uncollected balancing account recovery authorized in General Rate Case Decision 14-08-006. In Decision No. 14-08-006 the CPUC authorized San Jose Water Company to recover the $2,599 under-collection in various balancing accounts over a 12-month period beginning in August of 2014. However, at the end of the 12-month period $590 of the originally authorized $2,599 remained uncollected. This under-collection is due primarily to actual sales being substantially lower than the commission authorized sales estimate which was used to calculate the surcharge level. The advice letter was approved and effective on January 15, 2016. On February 5, 2016, San Jose Water Company filed Advice Letter No. 482 with the CPUC. With this advice letter San Jose Water Company requested authorization to recover the $7,668 balance accumulated in the WCMA during the period January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015. The WCMA is used to track the revenue impact of mandatory conservation upon San Jose Water Company’s quantity revenue resulting from mandatory conservation instituted by the State of California and the SCVWD. The requested $7,668 recovery is the net amount of the total drought related revenue reduction calculated in the WCMA offset by the drought surcharges collected during 2015. As directed by the CPUC, the under-collection will be recovered via a surcharge of $0.1441 per CCF on the existing quantity rate for a period of 12 months from the date of CPUC approval. On April 21, 2016, the CPUC passed Resolution W-5095 approving San Jose Water Company's requested recovery. On February 25, 2016, the CPUC passed Resolution W-5074 which affirmed San Jose Water Company's Water Shortage Contingency Plan in Schedule 14.1 with staged mandatory reductions and drought surcharges. Schedule 14.1 is the tariff that includes the drought allocations and drought surcharges currently in effect for residential customers and for dedicated landscape services. San Jose Water Company originally implemented Schedule 14.1 in June 2015 in response to the Governor’s Executive Order B-29-15, and by orders of the State Water Board and the CPUC. San Jose Water Company received protests from some customers and from ORA when Schedule 14.1 was implemented. The resolution in effect denies these protests and affirms San Jose Water Company’s Schedule 14.1. On February 29, 2016, San Jose Water Company filed Advice Letter No. 483 with the CPUC. This advice letter requested authorization to increase revenue requirement by $1,659 via a rate base offset for 2015 calendar year plant additions related to the Montevina Water Treatment Plant Upgrade Project. With this increase, the bill for a residential customer using 15 CCF per month will increase by $0.46, or 0.55% per month. This requested increase was approved and became effective March 30, 2016. 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. On September 16, 2015, CLWSC filed an application with the PUCT requesting approval of the reincorporation of SJW Corp. from a California corporation to a Delaware corporation. A decision was issued on March 24, 2016 approving the reincorporation.

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