Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Service topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents testify to repeated outages and billing spikes as Mohave County asks ACC to examine Foothills Utilities
Summary
After more than a dozen residents described repeated outages, low pressure and sudden high bills in Valley Vista since Foothills Utilities took over, the Mohave County Board of Supervisors approved a letter asking the Arizona Corporation Commission for a briefing and review of the utility's operations and customer-service practices.
Dozens of Valley Vista residents told the Mohave County Board of Supervisors on July 20 that their water service has deteriorated since Foothills Utilities assumed operations and management of Truxton Canyon-area systems, citing prolonged outages, low pressure, pressure spikes and unusually large bills.
The board voted to authorize a letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission requesting a formal briefing from Foothills Utilities and that written public testimony be included in the county's submission. Chair (speaker labeled Chair) said the board would press the ACC to investigate given the number of senior citizens affected and the repeated, unresolved complaints.
During a public-comment period stretching more than an hour, residents and property‑owners described a pattern of incidents. A resident who gave an address in Valley Vista said he had not seen so many shutoffs in 25 years as he had in the last two years since Foothills took over. Another resident, Jeffrey Smith, read a timeline of repeated outages and emergency repairs, including multiple multi‑hour and multi‑day interruptions that he said had forced neighbors to spend money on plumbing repairs while Foothills failed to cover damage claims. Paul Carpenter and Mary Reynolds, who identified themselves as community association leaders, described sudden spikes in hourly metering data and slow or unreliable customer service responses.
"The customer service is absolutely horrible," Jeffrey Smith said. "Where was Foothills Utility? Nowhere to be found." Paul Carpenter asked the board to include detailed billing and hourly-read data that residents had supplied.
Supervisor Martin, who pulled the item for discussion, said the county will include all written testimony in the letter to the ACC and thanked residents for coming to the meeting. The board approved the motion by voice vote.
What the board asked the ACC to examine includes: outage frequency and duration, communications and notification practices, incident response, meter- and billing-integrity concerns raised by residents, and whether customer credits or reimbursement procedures are being applied consistently. The county made no regulatory determination and does not itself regulate private utilities; the letter asks the ACC to investigate and report back.
Next steps: the county clerk will attach the written testimony to the letter and the chair will sign and send the request to the Arizona Corporation Commission. The board said it will follow up publicly on any ACC response.
