(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents homeowners fighting against this utility rate increase.)
By Rose Law Group Reporter
Robson Ranch residents in Eloy are righteously rattled by a rate “increase to their water and sewer bills… after their small utilities were purchased by one of the largest private equity funds in the world,” Netherlands-based CVC DIF.
How much of a hike? “The utilities are in some cases seeing rate increases of nearly 90% or 130%… Last May, residents at Robson Ranch got notice that their bills would go up an average $112 a month.”
Utilities push back: “The company’s representatives said it was long overdue to increase rates, which have not changed in some cases for decades, and it is entitled to a greater return on investment.”
But Court Rich, director of Rose Law Group’s energy & utility infrastructure department, says “the massive increase all at once is not aligned with prior cases… ‘The Corporation Commission is required to make sure that utility rates are fair to the customers,’ Rich said. ‘And doubling the rates on thousands of Arizona retirees, so a European private equity firm can make a quick return, it’s just not fair.’”
Decision time: “The Corporation Commission… is expected to make a decision March 4 in the Robson Ranch case… ‘Everybody who has a small water company should be concerned about what happens here,’” Rich says.
