SUEZ Seeks Rate Differential For Water-Conserving Customers

PEARL RIVER, NY — SUEZ, the water company that serves nearly 500,000 people in Rockland, Westchester, Orange, Putnam and Tioga counties, filed a plan Monday with the New York State Public Service Commission. It wants to raise some rates, create and expand conservation programs, and merge all those customers under one company.

David Stanton, its president of utility operations, pointed out something that many people are only just beginning to realize.

“Water will always be a precious commodity,” said Stanton in the announcement about the rate hikes the company seeks.

For people seeking ways to act locally on global water issues, SUEZ has created a way to methodically track water consumption and conservation.

Customers who visit mysuezwater.com can now establish a “Green Profile” and gain access to an innovative set of tools, including an interactive conservation survey, conservation goal setting and comprehensive consumption data.

Rate hikes

SUEZ wants to increase the approximate average residential monthly water bill by $0.35 cents day in Rockland and Orange counties; $0.18 cents a day in the city of Rye and the villages of Rye Brook and Port Chester in Westchester County; and $0.09 cents in the Forest Park water service district in Putnam County.

Customers in other parts of Westchester would see a reduction in their monthly bills of $0.14 per day and rates in Owego and Nichols in Tioga County would not change.

Conservation

The plan incorporates a request to adjust rates so that customers who conserve or use less water will receive a proportionally lower monthly bill than customers who use more.

Also, SUEZ’ successful water rebate program in Rockland County would be offered to all of its New York utility customers. The program, started in 2017, features substantial monetary rebates for high-efficiency clothes washers, showerheads and toilets to homeowners and businesses. To date, more than 3,000 rebates have been redeemed in Rockland, company officials said.

Additional Smart Utility projects include advanced meters that decrease time to detect customer leaks.

Rockland a special case

Rockland County is studying ways to conserve water. Since residents and county leaders fought off United Water's plan to construct a desalination plant on the Hudson River to increase water supply, the county has been pursuing conservation as a long-term strategy. The desalination plant— a controversial idea that dominated Rockland's imagination for years—was based on projections that the county's water demand would have surpassed supply by 2015. After the PSC nixed it in 2014, the commission pointed out that the need could arise again in the near future, and that it was crucial that the community, the company and the PSC explore and adopt all reasonable actions to defer the need for new supply and explore opportunities for alternative sources before 2020.

SUEZ

With 90,000 people on the five continents, SUEZ is a world leader in smart and sustainable resource management. To meet increasing demands to overcome resource quality and scarcity challenges, SUEZ is fully engaged in the resource revolution. With the full potential of digital technologies and innovative solutions, the Group recovers 17 million tons of waste a year, produces 3.9 million tons of secondary raw materials and 7 TWh of local renewable energy. It also secures water resources, delivering wastewater treatment services to 58 million people and reusing 882 million m3 of wastewater.

SEE ALSO

• Rockland Residents' Input Needed At Water Conservation Workshop March 7