Posted on 09/02/2014 3:05:54 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Would adding a more complex pricing structure at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) encourage customers to cut back on their water usage?
KNX 1070’s Jon Baird reports a recent UCLA study found that while some residents have stepped up conservation efforts, others have leveled off as the statewide drought continues to worsen.
Last month, City Councilmen Felipe Fuentes and Mike Bonin introduced a motion (PDF) to have the DWP explore a number of conservation policy changes, including “an increasing block rate structure for DWP customers with more than two tiers, in which the unit price for water rises as the volume of water consumption increases.”
The proposal – outlined in a June study by researchers at UCLA’s California Center for Sustainable Communities – calls for implementing the revised multi-tiered pricing structure for residential water use that, under one option, could be used in combination with seasonal rate hikes in which prices increase during the summer months.
Stephanie Pincetl, director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, said the study’s findings showed wealthier customers with bigger lots use as much as three times the amount of water that other residential customers use.
One potential solution according to Pincetl: the adoption of household water meters that measure indoor and outdoor water use separately.
“Water prices should reflect the amount of water people use,” said Pincetl.
In January, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in response to California’s drought, asking residents to reduce their water consumption by 20 percent. Recent surveys have found water use has declined by just 5 percent statewide since that time.
Edward Randolph with the California Public Utilities Commission said when state regulators added extra tiers to electric rates to encourage electricity conservation earlier this year, the results were mixed – and often an unwelcome surprise.
“You don’t understand you’ve gone into the next tier until you get your bill,” said Randolph.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the DWP would report its findings to the City Council’s Energy and Environment Committee.
Conservative Californians: Come to Texas. We have MUCH LOWER housing costs, lower taxes, jobs galore at every level and FREEDOM.
Bwahahaha! Go on conserve that water...then they’ll charge you more anyway due to crumbling infrastructure! Don’t believe me...just ask Cleveland!
What...?
Many cities already do this....water rates based on usage is not a new idea...
I guess the rich libtards have been catered too....
A few decades ago, northeast Oklahoma was having a severe drought. Several of the city and rural water districts came on TV and asked people to cut back on their water usage.
People did.
About 6 months later, those water districts notified their customers that they lost too much revenue that year due to the lessened water use by customers. Thus, the districts were going to raise water rates.
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First, farming uses 80% of the water consumed in California, so conservations efforts aimed at the remaining 20% is not going to work.
Second, as mentioned by EBH, we will not see a reduction in our monthly bill. The excuse will be that we did such a good job conserving water that rates had to be increased to meet operating expenses.
I haven’t noticed a mosquito problem here. Lots of grasshoppers and crickets this Summer, but they don’t do anything to me.
In California PGE was allowed to tier the rates many years ago. Noone, and I mean noone, can stay under what they call lifeline usage. Ours is always in the third tier. Doesn’t matter the prices just keep going up.
Government: a monopoly that can’t break even or better and is forced to ration instead of planning ahead.
Aren’t you glad they’re in charge of health care now?
Barbara Streisand was buying almost a 1000 dollars of water per month, 10 years ago, I wonder how much water she uses at that house today?
Celebs have to pay utilities?
I figured they’d get it for free “just for being there”
Probably need to give it to them for free like they do in Detroit .... you know, social justice.
They are all bird food, as far as I'm concerned.
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