SC state senator boiling mad at plans to hike Midlands water customers’ bills
A state senator is blasting a proposal to increase some Midlands water customers’ bills, and he’s encouraging them to make their voices heard before the rate hike comes into effect.
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, was upset to learn that a reason for Blue Granite’s rate hike request was to pay for moving the company’s headquarters from West Columbia to Greenville. Harpootlian is encouraging utility customers in his district to attend a hearing on the proposed rate increase at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Irmo Municipal Building, 7300 Woodrow St.
“The PSC needs folks to show up and say why they oppose this,” Harpootlian told The State.
The Columbia Democrat said he was upset to hear at a public hearing on Monday that the moving costs were cited as a reason for a proposed rate hike of up to 56%, “along with re-branding and a whole bunch of other stuff I don’t think ratepayers should have to pay for.”
“Ratepayers should not be expected to foot the bill for a 65-inch flat screen TV and high-end office furniture,” Harpootlian said in an email sent to constituents.
The company serves around 30,000 customers in South Carolina, including dozens of neighborhoods in Richland and Lexington counties.
Blue Granite’s request to have the moving cost included in a rate increase has already been declined by the S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff, the state government agency that advocates for utility customers, Blue Granite spokesman Dave Wilson said. But the company is still asking the regulatory agency to support some $9 million in costs, he said.
The state Public Service Commission will make the final decision on any rate increase.
Wilson attributes the need for a hike to infrastructure improvements the company has undertaken in recent years, including connecting its Lake Wylie facility in York County to Charlotte’s water system and tying its Friarsgate treatment facility in Irmo in with the city of Columbia’s. The proposed increase will also cover the cost of “new technology across the company to increase customer service and reliability,” Wilson said.
In total, Blue Granite invested $23 million into infrastructure improvements, and the rate increase is needed to offset the cost, Wilson said. Without the ability to raise rates, the company also has to absorb rate increases passed on by municipal water departments from which it buys its water.
The rate hike will mean rates for the average water customer would go up by 45%, while sewer rates would increase by 56%, according to state regulators. Rates for the company’s Midlands customers could go up by up to 55.4% for water service, The State previously reported.
In the past, the Friarsgate facility has been cited by the state for releasing poorly treated sewage into the nearby Saluda River, which was blamed for increasing unsafe levels of bacteria in the popular recreational site. The company was fined $80,000 by the Department of Health and Environmental Control in 2017 for the release.
After that release and other issues, including a long-running dispute with the town of Lexington over a sewage treatment plant on the Saluda, the company changed its name from Carolina Water Service to Blue Granite. Under its former name, the company was last permitted to raise its rates in 2018.
Thursday’s meeting is part of a series of public hearings about the proposed rate hike with the Public Service Commission. Future hearings will take in parts of the company’s Upstate service area before it concludes at the PSC’s Columbia headquarters on Feb. 27.
BLUE GRANITE SYSTEMS IN THE MIDLANDS
Editor’s note: A version of this list published earlier Wednesday included some Lexington County neighborhoods no longer in Blue Granite’s service area. Those neighborhoods have been added to the town of Lexington’s water system due to a change in ownership of a Saluda River treatment plant. They will not be affected by a rate increase.
Lexington County
▪ Water: Arrowhead/Lakewood Estates, Bellemede, Blue Ridge/Calvin/Heatherwood, Calvin Acres, Cambridge Hills, Charwood, Dutchman Acres, Dutchman Shores, Emma Terrace, Estates at Hilton, Falcon Ranches, Foxtrail, Glenn Village, Heatherwood, Hermitage, Hidden Valley Country Club, Hilton Place, Idlewood CWS, Indian Cove, Indian Pines, Lake Village, Lakewood Estates, Lexington Estates, Lexington Farms, Milmont Shores, Murray Lodge, Murray Park Estates, Oakwood, Parkwood, Peachtree Acres, Rollingwood/Silver Creek, Sangaree, Southland Cedarwood, Southland Creekwood, Sycamore Acres, Tanya Terrace, Vanarsdale, Westside Terrace, Windy Hill.
▪ Sewer: Glenn Village II/Stonebridge, Harbor Place/Windward Pointe, Harborside, Indian Fork/Forty Love, Mallard Cove, Rollingwood/Silver Creek, Smallwood Estates, The Landings, Watergate/Spence Pt.
▪ Water and sewer: Governors Grant, Kingston Harbour, Secret Cove.
Richland County
▪ Water: Charleswood, Dutch Village/Raintree Acres, Farrowood Estates, Hamon Hill Estates, Oakridge Hunt Club, Raintree Acres, Springfield Acres, Washington Heights.
▪ Sewer: Forty Love Point, Stonegate/Forty Love Point.
▪ Water and sewer: Ballentine Cove, Friarsgate/Ballentine Cove, North Lake Shore Point, Salem Church Rd., Shadowwood Cove.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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