Commuters are staggering under the burden of four-dollar-a-gallon gas.
Homeowners are dreading the onset of winter and unprecedented heating bills.
But residents of four communities in New Hampshire may face another economic blow.
The price they pay for water may rise dramatically. In some cases, they may see their water bills increase several times over.
NHPR Correspondent Elaine Appleton Grant has the story.
STORY: (AMBI: SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS; THEY CONTINUE UNDER VOICE)
AGRI: “It’s beautiful here. I love it! Bobby and I both love it!... I’d hate to give up my house.” OUT 3:02
GRANT: (VO1) It’s a spectacular summer day at Locke Lake Colony in Barnstead.
A little girl plays on the sandy beach with her mother.
A couple of older women are lounging near the water, enjoying a day off from work.
This is the home of Anne Agri, and her husband, Bobby, a retired marine….both in their sixties.
Three months ago the Agris, along with their seven-year old grandson, moved in to their dream house here.
It’s light and airy, but small – a one-bedroom home with a screened-in porch.
(AMBI: (Agri.construction :35) Sound of drill.)
GRANT: (VO2) Bobby Agri, is up on a ladder, installing a ceiling fan in the porch.
Workmen are upstairs, building a bedroom for the couple’s grandson.
But, ultimately, their work could go to waste.
Anne Agri says they’ll have to move if the state approves a 311% water rate hike proposed by Pittsfield Aqueduct Company, or PAC.
That’s the company that provides Locke Lake’s drinking water.
AGRI: We live on just what we get every month. We have no increases other than the first of the year when social security goes up. We cannot afford an increase like this. My, my water bill would be over $100 a month. I cannot afford that. :40
GRANT: (VO3 – SEVERAL TAKES) On May 2, PAC, which is owned by Pennichuck Corporation, filed a proposed rate hike with the state’s Public Utility Commission.
The company wants to increase rates by an average of 311 percent for three communities it delivers water to – Locke Lake Colony, Sunrise Estates in Milton, and Birch Hill in North Conway.
According to PUC records, an average ratepayer in these developments could see his or her water bill rise from $40 to about $164.
PAC also wants to raise rates by nearly half in the town of Pittsfield.
The state encouraged PAC to buy the four water systems two years ago.
At the time, they were in bad shape.
Most didn’t meet new federal drinking water standards and, in Locke Lake and in North Conway, residents couldn’t count on having water 24 hours a day.
The state hoped that PAC would have the resources to upgrade the systems,
That, it turns out, was an expensive proposition.
Donald Ware is the president of Pittsfield Aqueduct Company.
WARE :50 We have invested over $4 million dollars in making improvements to take these water systems that had been unattended to for a long period of time and bring them into compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and also bring them into compliance with just normal operating systems where people have water all the time and they have water with adequate pressure and adequate volume. OUT 1:19
GRANT: According to the Public Utilities Commission’s Mark Naylor, water quantity and quality problems aren’t unusual in small developments throughout the state.
And, as federal and state drinking water standards get tougher, pressure is on owners to fix aging systems and that’s going to cost ratepayers. .
NAYLOR: IN 1:04 “This one is particularly high because the two systems that we’re talking about, the Locke Lake system in Barnstead and the Birch Hill system in Conway have had significant problems over the years and certainly were not constructed using the best materials and best practices. OUT 1:31
GRANT: (VO5) In Locke Lake, where the wells and pipes are about 40 years old, Pittsfield Aquaduct added a well and storage to make sure homeowners always have water.
The company fixed leaky water mains and the overtaxed water distribution system.
It also installed a treatment system that takes arsenic, manganese, iron and radon out of the water.
Now, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services says the Locke Lake water is perfectly safe.
Still the price increase has residents panicking over their potential water bills.
Locke Lake, like much of Barnstead, is largely a middle and lower-income community.
The town itself needs a new or renovated school, town hall, and police department.
For many, an increase in water bills is the last straw. Michael Ranaldi is the Locke Lake Association’s president.
RANALDI: 15 If Pennichuck gets their water 300% higher, these people will have to sell their houses. Because they do need schoolrooms, they need a town hall, it is a very very dangerous situation, and we need government help and we need help immediately. :33
GRANT: (Vo6) The homeowner’s association and the water company have both contacted Senator Judd Gregg’s office looking for federal assistance.
Both have come up dry, because for-profit companies like PAC qualify for few if any grants.
In the meantime, the Public Utility Commission is studying the company’s rate hike request.
The PUC’s Mark Naylor says it’s too early to judge this case.
NAYLOR: IN 22: 18 I think its clear that the company has invested a substantial amount of capital into these systems. 22:27 /22:32 and uh based on that level of investment there’s certainly going to be an increase warranted, but that’s all part of the review process. 22:39
GRANT: On average water prices have risen about 8% in New Hampshire over the last few years,
That’s according to Chris Woodcock, vice president of the New England Water Works Association.
Woodcock says a 300 percent increase is unusually high.
But, he adds, the 15% of state residents who get their water from investor-owned utilities could find themselves facing equally scary price hikes in the near future.
WOODCOCK: 12:15 Small communities in particular should be prepared for those types of things happening….
12: 29 Its harder and harder for those, I’ll call them tiny water utilities, very small water utilities that are serving several hundred customers and in some cases seasonal customers to find the money to make the investments to provide water for people 12:48
GRANT: (V08) The Public Utility Commission has scheduled its hearing on the PAC’s proposed rate hike for July 16.
For NHPR, I’m Elaine Appleton Grant.
