Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Utilities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee hears Santa Fe Springs request to streamline sale of small water system to larger purveyor
Summary
AB 1712 would let Santa Fe Springs use a protest process instead of a municipal election to sell its contaminated, financially stressed water system to a larger PUC‑regulated provider; the city’s public works director said the system faces over $150 million in capital needs and two wells require multimillion‑dollar treatment upgrades.
An author presented AB 1712 as a district‑specific bill to help the city of Santa Fe Springs consolidate its small municipal water system by enabling a protest process for sale to a larger public‑utility‑commission regulated purveyor. The author said the city’s system faces groundwater contamination and is operating at a structural deficit that would otherwise require a rate increase of roughly 300% to finance urgent upgrades.
James Enriquez, Santa Fe Springs public works director, testified that the city lacks capital funding to address more than $150 million in capital improvement needs, that its two wells are offline because of contamination and would each require more than $8 million in treatment upgrades, and that the city currently depends entirely on imported water at significantly higher cost. He said the sale to a larger purveyor would allow costs to be spread across a broader rate base and place the system under PUC regulation to protect ratepayers.
Committee members asked about whether a consolidation agreement already existed; Enriquez said there was no agreement yet and that the city would begin an RFP process to solicit buyers only after the bill authorized the alternative protest sale process. The committee left the item open pending quorum and further action.
No formal opposition witnesses spoke during the presentation. The author and the city’s public works director said the sale mechanism had precedent in nearby cities and that the PUC’s regulation of the eventual purveyor would provide safeguards for residents.
Next steps: The committee will consider the item when quorum is established; the author asked for an “aye” vote at the appropriate time.
