Great Barrington and West Stockbridge — The towns of Great Barrington and West Stockbridge have together filed an appeal with the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) in the Housatonic Water Works rate case after the DPU approved the company’s rate-increase request back on July 31. As proposed by the company, HWW customer rates are set to be increased by over 90 percent over the next five years.
The company originally filed an application with the state’s Department of Public Utilities in June 2023 requesting a 112.7 percent overall revenue increase.
The approved rate increase is a settlement that was filed with HWW alongside the Office of the Attorney General. The appeal was filed on Tuesday, August 20, by David Doneski of K.P. Law P.C. of Boston. “The towns respectfully request that the order be set aside because it is based on errors of law, is unsupported by substantial evidence, fails to consider credible evidence that undermines the findings and determination in the Order, is arbitrary and capricious, is an abuse of discretion, and/or is otherwise not in accordance with law,” Doneski wrote in the appeal, which was filed in the state’s Supreme Judicial Court in Suffolk County.
Doneski goes on to argue that the DPU’s approval of the rate increase is not in the public interest:
The order states that the Department recognizes that the magnitude of the rate increase is significant, and notes there has been long-standing public dissatisfaction with the company’s quality of service. Yet, the order approves the rate increase as proposed. Thus, the order erroneously finds that the settlement is reasonable as a whole, is in the public interest, and will result in just and reasonable rates. Therefore, the order a) is based on errors of law; b) is unsupported by substantial evidence; c) fails to consider credible evidence that undermines the findings and determination in the Order; d) is arbitrary and capricious; e) is an abuse of discretion; and f) is otherwise not in accordance with law.
Doneski states that the rate increases “are neither reasonable as a whole nor in the public interest, and do not result in just and reasonable rates” and that HWW will receive “a substantial return on equity, with no deferral, while at the same time requiring the Company’s customers to bear the burden of a rate increase of more than 50 percent in a single year.”
Doneski asks that the DPU set aside their previous decision to approve HWW’s rate increases and reconsider their deliberations.
Click here to see the full appeal as filed by Great Barrington and West Stockbridge.
