Bakersfield customers of California Water Service could be paying 34.5% more each month to fill their tubs and flush their toilets in coming years.
That’s how much the water company is seeking to boost rates over 2026, 2027 and 2028, subject to approval by the California Public Utilities Commission.
If approved at the requested amounts, Bakersfield residents who use 8,977 gallons a month would see a bill of $47.87 go to $56,58 in 2026, then $61.02 in 2027 and $66.20 in 2028.
A family of four typically uses 12,000 gallons a month in California.
And, yes, this latest general rate increase application, filed July 8, comes on the heels of an increase just instituted this past spring, the company acknowledged.
That increase, which added $1.85 to the typical monthly bill, was actually from CalWater’s 2021 rate increase application. It was implemented this spring because of approval delays, explained Tammy Johnson, director of CalWater’s Bakersfield district.
Customers should have seen a full-page explanation of that 2021 rate increase in their June bills, Johnson said.
Rate increases are needed to upgrade facilities, including replacing nearly 15 miles of pipelines, replacing a 2.5 million gallon tank and to pay for escalating costs for power, chemicals and water, explained CalWater spokesman Kevin McCusker. Treatment chemicals alone are projected to go up 83% from 2018 to 2028, he said.
But those general rate increases don’t tell the full story of what customers are seeing in their bills, said Richard Rauschmeier, a program supervisor with the Public Advocate’s office within the CPUC. The Public Advocate’s office combs through rate increase requests by public water utilities and makes recommendations to the CPUC.
Utilities have also been increasing consumers’ bills through “surcharges” and “alternative rate making” techniques, which don’t involve the kind of public hearing procedure of a general rate increase application, Rauschmeier said.
He estimated that 30% to 40% of charges customers are seeing in their actual bills are being set outside the public hearing process.
“That’s a policy issue we’ve been fighting for some time,” Rauschmeier said. “It’s really insidious.”
For example, CalWater will likely have to set a budget with higher rates later this year – separate from the 34.5% general rate increase application – in order to deal with polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which the Environmental Protection Agency recently set limits for, he said.
An April CalWater press release stated the company expects to invest $215 million toward PFAS remediation, according to the Public Advocate’s Aug. 8 protest on CalWater’s application.
But PFAS costs weren’t included in CalWater’s 2026-2028 rate increase application, Rauschmeier said.
“We were shocked by this application,” he said. “Despite all the warnings and projected costs for dealing with PFAS, they will be filing a separate application. That’s very deceptive to consumers and decision makers as to what the actual rate increases will be. It’s death by a thousand cuts.”
McCusker said the reason PFAS costs weren’t included is because legal action is still pending on responsibility for PFAS cleanup.
“From our standpoint, it’s premature to put those costs in this rate application and ask customers to pay for something when we don’t know the costs yet because of pending legal action,” he said.
A public hearing on CalWater’s rate increase application has not been set yet.
CalWater serves about 70% of Bakersfield customers, but there’s often a great deal of confusion over water bills as smaller companies and agencies serve different parts of the city. Those agencies can have very different methods of charging customers, depending on the type of agency.
To make things extra confusing, CalWater provides billing services for customers who actually get water from the City of Bakersfield and are charged under a totally different system from CalWater.
CalWater is a public, for-profit company overseen by the CPUC, which allows a 6% to 10% profit on capital improvements to be built into its rates.
Bakersfield is a municipal service and can legally only charge customers for the actual costs of providing water. Municipal rate increases typically have to go through what’s known as Proposition 218 election where ratepayers can fend off increases with enough protest votes.
Bakersfield increased rates by 10% in 2023, then 6% per year for 2024 through 2027 – or a total of 34% over five years.
There are also several mutual water companies and community services districts that provide water to residents in the metropolitan Bakersfield area.
Mutual water companies are private, nonprofit companies owned by property owners within their service areas. Community Services Districts are overseen by boards elected by residents within their service boundaries.
