Water Rate Increase is Approved

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia has granted West Virginia American Water Company a lower increase than it sought. The commission said it issued an order allowing a water rate increase of $18.17 million, or about 15.1 percent. The utility company had initially requested a rise of nearly twice that amount — $35.47 million. The commission also granted a $151,000 increase in sewer rates, a 19.8 percent jump. That number is about $25,000 less than what the company had sought. Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy says Social Security hasn’t gone up this year and wages have hardly budged, and people may have trouble affording the increase. WVAW spokeswoman Laura Jordan has said the rate increase would go toward updates for aging infrastructure.