Great Barrington — At the beginning of the Selectboard’s regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 12, Chair Steve Bannon announced that the town intends to file an appeal with the Department of Public Utilities in the Housatonic Water Works rate case.
Back on July 31, the Department of Public Utilities approved the rate increase request made by Housatonic Water Works.
As proposed by the company, HWW customer rates are set to be increased by over 90 percent over the next five years.
Originally, in June 2023 the company filed an application with the state’s Department of Public Utilities 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.
At the beginning of the August 12 meeting, Chair Bannon read a statement concerning DPU’s approval of the company’s rate increase.
He said that the Selectboard met on August 6 with the town’s legal counsel to review
“By its terms and by statute, the [approved rate increases] may be appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court by an aggrieved party in interest within 20 days,” Bannon said. “The appellate path is a narrow one, but the town of Great Barrington, through its Selectboard, is poised to file an appeal within the time frame by law. Our Town Manager [Mark Pruhenski] has been in contact with his colleagues in our partner towns of Stockbridge and West Stockbridge, and we hope they will join us in doing the same. Once the appeal is filed, it will be shared publicly.”
Stockbridge and West Stockbridge are intervening parties in the case.
