What are Surcharges ? 

The surcharges listed on your bi-monthly bill can be broken down into two groups. These are Balancing Account Surcharges and WRAM/MCBA Balancing Account Surcharges. A Balancing Account monitors the source of supply costs for purchased power, Watermaster pumping fees, and leased water rights. It records the difference between actual supply costs and the estimated supply costs forecasted in our rates. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recognized that water utilities have no control over these supply costs, just as you have no control over your electric or gas bills. To protect the utility and its customers from unforeseen changes and to ensure that rates accurately reflect the cost of providing service, the PUC has allowed water utilities to recover the difference between actual supply costs and those that were estimated if that cost exceeds two percent of the utility’s revenues.

The State of California recently passed the Senate Bill X7-7 that requires water companies to reduce their production 20 percent by the year 2020. Liberty Utilities has instituted various conservation measures to realize this goal, including tiered water rates. The CPUC approved the Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanism (WRAM) and the Modified Cost Balancing Account (MCBA) so that utilities could recoup revenues lost to this reduction while ensuring that they continue to protect water sources through conservation.

According to CPUC policy, all customers are subject to the approved rates including surcharges contained in the tariff schedules of Liberty Utilities.