South Bay residents could soon see their water bills increase.
San Jose Water, which serves more than a million customers, has proposed raising rates 22% over the next three years.
Here's the breakdown for the average monthly residential bill for San Jose Water customers:
- Next year, the average bill would jump $107 to $120
- In 2025, the average bill would be $125
- And by 2027, the avaerage bill would reach $131
It is worth noting those numbers do not include surcharges and fees.
The California Public Utilities Commission still needs to approve the proposed rate hike.
Residents, who are already dealing with inflation and recent hikes to their PG&E bill, said seeing another proposed rate increase is bad news because they are feeling the pinch.
"PG&E is up. Gas is up. Food is up," San Jose resident Mary Lou Von Pinnon said. "I'm not really surprised."
San Jose Water said the increase is needed to pay for construction projects and replace old pipes. The utility has 2400 miles of water main and replace about 24 miles a year.
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"We ask for what we believe is just and reasonable, and nothing more than that," said Liann Walborsky, San Jose Water's director of corporate communications. "We have escalating operating expenses. We have investment in infrastructure to continue serving safe and reliable water service."
There is also another, separate, hike on the horizon.
Valley Water, which is the wholesaler for South Bay water agencies, said it is raising customer costs for infrastructure and its projects like retrofitting the Anderson Dam.
If approved in May, people in the South Bay can expect their monthly bill to rise by almost $9.
"We understand the desire to keep water rates down, our board is looking at that every day and they’re looking for solutions and, in fact, we have a hiring freeze right now looking at operational costs and what we could cut there," said Matt Keller, Valley Water spokesman.
Some customers said they were not happy about the possible rate hikes, but added they do not know what can be done about it.
"Of course it's frustrating, but what are you going to do? You don’t have a choice," Pinnon said. "You still need gas in your car. You still need to use the water."
There are scheduled public forms to discuss the increases. For Valley Water, the forum will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday. For San Jose Water, the forum will be held on June 13.
