MDC Votes to Pass Large Rate Discounts for Water Super-Users

Save Our Water CT is disappointed that despite overwhelming public opposition at its public hearing, the MDC District Board voted tonight for high-volume discounts that will benefit one customer - Niagara Bottling of California. As pointed out by David Silverstone, the MDC Independent Consumer Advocate, the financial rationale presented by the MDC to justify the discounts is not supported by the available data.

The two discounts, one for water and one for the Clean Water Project Charge, could result in the forfeit of up to $2.6 Million per year in MDC revenues, money that could be used to reduce residents’ water rates or fund water assistance programs. The MDC’s goal of subsidizing this already-established and expanding business, which profits from MDC’s Class A water, is ill-advised and environmentally unsound.
We suggest that the MDC staff and the District Board look at other ways to address MDC’s revenue challenges and consider alternative rate structures that will stabilize the costs of essential household water use, benefit residents first, and insure equitable incentives for businesses of all sizes and varieties.