By Charlotte Lane, chair, Public Service Commission of West Virginia
One of the most important laws ever enacted by the West Virginia Legislature is the Distressed and Failing Utilities Improvement Act. This 2020 statute gives the Public Service Commission crucial tools for improving water and sewer services. The law allows the Commission to determine whether a system can properly serve its customers.
Systems fail or fall into disrepair for any number of reasons. A major issue is a declining customer base. Fewer customers mean less money for repairs, maintenance, and salaries.
Running a water or sewer system takes expertise. Qualified operators often leave smaller systems that cannot match the salaries or benefits of larger operations. It becomes a vicious spiral, downward.
Some of these systems have enormous pipeline circuits, and the terrain in West Virginia does not make the job easier. Adequate water pressure often requires more pumping stations, which increases costs. Many smaller systems were built decades ago and neglect has caused cumulative problems. The crews struggle to keep up, but too often it is a failing struggle.
This law is not meant to be punitive against a system that just can’t make it. It is aimed at continuing, or even improving, the basic water and sewer service that customers expect.
West Virginia has nearly 600 water and sewer utility systems. The Public Service Commission has handled a number of these cases so far, and we expect the trend to continue.
A handful of cases are currently pending, including a few that present some major challenges. These cases generally always present a host of technical issues. Unfortunately, some of them generate hard feelings when the proprietors of these systems argue that they can provide adequate service. They take it personally, which is never our intention.
So we continue to carefully scrutinize the situations we face. The Commission certainly is not in the finger-pointing business. We don’t want to take away local control of these systems if we can avoid it. But in all instances, our primary concern has to be, and is, the health and safety of the customers.
The Legislature has given us a powerful tool for helping the citizens of the Mountain State to have clean, reliable water and sewer services. It is one we treat with careful deliberation and the utmost concern for everyone involved.
