Use a lot of water? Your bill is about to go up

Water authority closes loophole in water rates

Albuquerque’s top residential water consumers will soon pay more for that luxury, and within a few months those who conserve water could see their bills drop as costs are shifted to encourage conservation.

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority on Wednesday night closed a loophole in the water rates that allowed a small percentage of its customers to use millions of gallons of water without paying any fines or penalties. The surcharge previously was levied only against those whose summer use was more than three times their winter usage. If a customer’s winter use was high enough, they could avoid the surcharge.

And was it high, as The New Mexico Independent reported earlier this month. The top 1 percent of residential customers consumed an average of 532,000 gallons per household, totaling 835 million gallons of water in the last year, according to statistics from the authority. That’s more than 5.3 percent of the total residential use.

On Wednesday, the authority board approved an interim measure that bases the summer use on a winter maximum of 28 units — about 21,000 gallons a month. That’s about how much is currently consumed by the top 1 percent of users. It’s also about three times more than the amount used by 80 percent of water utility customers, officials say.

Henceforth, surcharges will be levied against that top 1 percent group when their summer use reaches 63,000 gallons a month. An even higher surcharge kicks in when summer use hits 84,000 gallons a month. In all, the authority could take in an additional $65,000 a year if those top water users continue to run their taps and hoses as they have, officials say.

But the authority also agreed Wednesday to revamp the water rates further to encourage other users to conserve. Earlier this month, authority Executive Director Mark Sanchez said there were no plans to revise the rate structure, even as news of exorbitant water use hit the headlines. On Wednesday, Sanchez said in a release that he wants the new rates to be revenue-neutral, meaning some users will pay more and some will pay less.

A private consultant will work up options on the rate structure change and is scheduled to present them to the board Sept. 17, said authority spokesman David Morris. The earliest any changes might take effect is probably early next year, he said.

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