PWSA seeks regulatory approval for rate increases in 2022, 2023

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority will seek rate increases in 2022 and 2023 to generate about $32 million, according to a legal notice.

Since 2018, PWSA’s rates have been regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. On Tuesday, PWSA will file a request to seek rate hikes in the next two years.

PWSA officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The request would increase rates by a combined 17% that would be phased in over two years.

PWSA also wants to establish a stormwater fee that would be applied to residential and non-residential customers.

If approved, the new bill for a residential customer using 3,000 gallons per month would go up nearly 10% in 2022, from $79 to $87. In 2023, the bill would increase by about 4% from $87 to $91, according to a legal advertisement PWSA placed with the Tribune-Review to notify customers of the proposal.

The amounts include the new stormwater fee, which is calculated by the impervious surface area of a property and is based on the average area of 1,650 square feet. It’s called an equivalent residential unit, or ERU.

A typical residential customer enrolled in PWSA’s bill discount program — which provides reduced rates for customers earning below 150% of the federal poverty level, or $39,750 for a family of four — would see their bills increase from $41.77 a month to $45.34 a month, according to the legal notice. The bills would increase to $47.90 a month in 2023, the notice said.

Commercial customers that use 13,000 gallons a month and have a stormwater runoff of 8 ERUs would see an increase of 19% in 2022, from about $294 a month to $351 a month. The bill would increase to about $376 a month in 2023, a 7% increase.

Industrial customers using 680,000 gallons a month that generate stormwater runoff from 30 ERUs would see their bills increase about 6.6% in 2022, from about $12,267 a month to $13,079 a month. In 2023 the monthly bill would increase to $13,758, a 5.2% increase.

Health and education customers that use 50,000 gallons a month that generate runoff from 32 ERUs would see their bills increase by 14.3% in 2022, from about $1,276 a month to $1,459 a month. In 2023, the increase on these customers would be about 3.8% and increase monthly bills to about $1,514.

People with questions about the proposed increase can call PWSA at 412-255-2423. The portion of PWSA’s website devoted to the proposed rate increases was not yet active Monday.

PWSA has been regulated by the state PUC since 2018.

A 5.7% total increase in base rates for water and wastewater charges and a 5% distribution system improvement charge went into effect in January for PWSA customers this year. It amounted to a $6.85 increase for the average residential customer using 3,000 gallons of water a month.