The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the joint water utility between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, implemented a new rate structure Monday, which will mean about 70% of its customers will pay an average of $5 more on their quarterly utility bill.
The bi-county utility, which serves more than 2 million households, transitioned Monday from a 16-tier rate structure to a four-tier structure for said spokesman Luis Maya. Maya said this is the first time they have change the rate structure in 25 years. The tier a user pays is determined by the amount of water usage in each quarter. Customers previously paid the full rate for the highest tier of usage, but will now be prorated based on the exact amount of water usage to the gallon.
“You’re only paying for the water you used in that tier,” Maya said.
“The average household uses 150 or so gallons a day, so those people are going to see a $4 to $5 increase on their bill.”
WSSC implemented the change in response to a 2017 ruling from the Maryland Public Service Commission that demanded a change in the utility’s rate structure due to a complaint by Bethesda resident Richard Boltuck, who argued the 16-tier rate structure discriminated against customers who use more water and end up in higher price brackets as a result.
Maya added that bills will also increase due to changes in the rates for fiscal year 2020. He said he doesn’t know which households will end up paying more due to the new rate structure, but that income level will indirectly be a factor. “We know that low-income households are on the low usage end. But we don’t have any more income details on those households,” he said.
Maya said the rate change will not result in more revenue for WSSC because the 30% of customers who end up paying less for their water usage will even out the extra money generated from the 70% paying more.
The rates partially are allocated toward upkeep of the utility’s infrastructure. One third of WSSC’s 11,000 miles of pipeline is at least 50 years old, according to Maya.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
