Pasadena Water Rates to Increase Due to Drought
To add insult to injury, Pasadena Water and Power officials presented a controversial plan Tuesday to raise water rates in an effort to make up for the $6 million shortfall in the face of the state’s drought. Essentially, customers at PWP have been conserving now will be punished and pay more for less, if the plan is approved.
Governor Jerry Brown mandated that the City of Pasadena reduce water usage by 28 percent. The City responded with a number of programs and outreach efforts that have already resulted in a 24 percent decrease of water consumption.
Pasadena Water and Power presented their initial plan to the Municipal Services Committee that would change the water rate structure by July of 2016, the most significant change being to charge a fixed rate for each customer type rather than basing the charge on the amount of water used per customer since water usage has decreased.