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PUC limits GWA true‑up review to single test year, orders updated water‑loss reports and aims for August hearing
Summary
An ALJ recommended — and the Guam PUC approved — limiting discovery and adjustment authority in the GWA annual true‑up to the single test year, ordered updated water‑loss reporting, and set a target to hold the true‑up hearing in August if feasible.
Administrative Law Judge Herki told the Guam Public Utilities Commission that parties to GWA docket 2405 had agreed to a joint stipulation and recommended that the commission keep the annual true‑up focused on a single test year rather than expand discovery into subsequent ‘‘outline’’ years. Herki said parties agreed GWA will file a petition in April, provide a 2025 baseline water‑loss report, and that quarterly and year‑end water‑loss reporting would be revised and brought current.
"A true‑up is an update to revenues, expenses and other items referenced in the prior schedules," Herki said, arguing that expanding discovery to post‑test years would effectively convert a one‑year true‑up into a multi‑year rate case and would delay proceedings. He recommended that discovery be limited to the test year and that the commission attempt to schedule the hearing in August.
A GWA representative thanked the ALJ and commissioners for clarifying the framework, saying the guidance will help balance revenue requirements and affordability for ratepayers. Commissioners asked staff to confirm whether the water‑loss schedule requested from GWA is part of the quarterly reporting GWA submits to the U.S. Department of Commerce and clarified the deadline to bring outstanding reports current.
The commission approved the joint stipulation and the ALJ’s recommended order for docket 2405. The order adopts the parties’ process timelines, directs GWA to file a 2025 baseline and midyear report and to update quarterly reporting by the end of March 2026 (the order allowed a short extension into March), and states that discovery will be limited to the true‑up test year. The order also retains the five‑year RAM filing format (rate model) while noting that RAM entries for non‑test years need not include extensive analysis.
The commission took the action as a formal motion and voted to adopt the proposed order unanimously. The ALJ and parties will proceed under the order, and staff said they will try to schedule the commissioning hearing in August, subject to quorum and calendar constraints.
