The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has announced that it will increase rates and property taxes throughout the region over the next two years as the state grapples with fundamental changes to its water supply and usage.
Thousands of South Bay residents could see their water rates begin to increase at the start of 2024.
The Sweetwater Authority, which supplies water to 200,000 people in parts of Chula Vista, National City and Bonita, will be voting on the hike next week. This would be the first time the Sweetwater Authority has raised their water rates in five years. If ultimately approved, this series of rate hikes would begin on January first.
Escondido City Council on Wednesday voted 4-1 to increase the water rate over the next five years.
City leaders say it was needed to keep the utility department financially stable.
One week away from the city of Escondido voting on a potential double-digit water rate increase, council members received a presentation about the rate increase already decided on by San Diego County Water Authority.
“The board ultimately chose to go with a smoothing approach for the rate increases with an effective rate increase of 9.5% for calendar year 2024,” said Tish Berge, deputy general manager for SDCWA.
Berge explained the smoothing approach meant projected future increases wouldn’t be as steep. The county water authority cites several similar factors as the city for needing to raise the rate like inflation and maintaining infrastructure, but they also say they’ve lost money as a result of more frequent rainfall.
Oceanside’s water rates could climb 6 percent in 2024 and another 6 percent in 2025 under a proposal outlined this week by the city’s water utilities director.
The increases are the result of rate hikes by the Metropolitan Water District, Southern California’s biggest water wholesaler, and the San Diego County Water Authority, which buys water from Metropolitan and sells it to local agencies.
“We are directly passing through those rates,” Oceanside Water Utilities Director Lindsay Leahy said Tuesday in a presentation to the city’s Water Utilities Commission. The proposal is scheduled to go to the Oceanside City Council for approval Nov. 15.
On a 5-3 vote, the San Diego City Council approved a series of water rate increases Tuesday totaling nearly 20% over the next two years, following a public hearing during which San Diegans largely urged the body to reject the hikes.
The first adjustment will be an increase of 5%, effective Dec. 1, 2023, followed by a 5.2% increase on July 1, 2024, and an increase of 8.7% effective Jan. 1, 2025. While ratepayers have previously seen smaller increases, Tuesday’s rate adjustment is the first comprehensive jump in rates since 2015.
“This is a significant magnitude of a fee increase,” said Councilmember Kent Lee. “I think it was pointed out earlier that we have not had a rate increase of this magnitude for several years and it will have a significant impact on residents.”
City council is expected to vote on a nearly 20% increase to water rates for San Diego residents.
If approved, this would increase rates 10.2% beginning Dec. 1, 2023, then up to an additional 8.7% beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
Mayor Todd Gloria said this would equate to an approximate $12 increase to the average residents’ monthly bill.
A forum was held in Pacific Beach Tuesday evening to discuss a possible water rate hike for the city of San Diego.
As proposed by the city’s Public Utilities Department, water rates will increase 10.2% beginning on Dec. 1, 2023, and up to 8.7% on Jan. 1, 2025.
Residents and businesses in Yreka could face increased water rates as the city considers a staggered rise in rates to keep track with the increasing cost of water delivery and treating sewerage.
Energy Toolbase, a financial modeling platform specializing in solar and energy storage that collects nationwide electricity tariffs and rates, has published an in-depth analysis on the inflation of California’s electricity rates over the past decade. The analysis found that the state’s electricity inflation far outpaced generation inflation, averaging 15.3% from the 2020 through 2023. This surge came on the heels of a comparatively modest six-year span, which saw an average inflation of 1.6%.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
