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Chico council authorizes mayor to send support letter for Cal Water's PFAS compliance plan
Summary
By a 4-3 vote the council agreed to authorize the mayor to submit a letter supporting California Water Service's request to the CPUC to proceed with PFAS-treatment installations, while several councilmembers urged caution about potential rate impacts and called for CPUC consumer-advocate input.
The Chico City Council authorized the mayor to submit a letter of support for California Water Service's PFAS compliance program on a 4-3 vote, after the company's general manager, Evan Markey, urged the city to back proactive installation of PFAS-treatment equipment.
Evan Markey told the council the company is not asking the city to endorse any rate increase. "What we're asking for you to support is our position that we need to install this treatment now," Markey said, adding that the filing included a worst-case residential impact estimate of about "$4.23 for the average customer per month" if no grants or litigation recoveries are available. Markey said Cal Water expects to receive significant settlement funds from national litigation and has applied for state grants to lower rate impacts.
Some councilmembers questioned the appropriateness of the council weighing in on a CPUC proceeding without an independent consumer-advocate presentation. Councilmember Winslow said the council should be cautious because Cal Water is a regulated private utility and consumer advocates exist to analyze rate and cost claims. "I don't feel like it's very appropriate for us to be weighing in...when we don't frankly have all the information on it," Winslow said.
Supporters on the council emphasized public-health and supply-chain concerns. Councilmember Van Overbeck called PFAS compounds "pretty scary" and said getting ahead of equipment procurement is reasonable given limited vendor capacity.
The council's vote authorized the mayor to sign and submit the letter encouraging the California Public Utilities Commission to approve Cal Water's PFAS compliance plan; the action does not itself approve any rate increase. The matter will continue to proceed at the CPUC, where staff, consumer advocates and other intervenors will evaluate cost-sharing and rate impacts.
Ending: The council's letter seeks to prioritize public-health protection and timely installation of PFAS treatment, while several councilmembers asked staff to seek additional consumer-advocate analysis and to track grant and litigation recoveries that may offset rate impacts.
