FORNEY, Texas — Three Forney-area water supply corporations have petitioned the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to review and appeal the wholesale water supply rates implemented and charged by the City of Forney.
FORNEY, Texas — Three Forney-area water supply corporations have petitioned the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to review and appeal the wholesale water supply rates implemented and charged by the City of Forney.
The November 2017 petition, filed by High Point Water Supply Corporation (WSC), Talty Special Utility District (SUD), and Markout WSC, also requests an interim rate, the same as the rate being charged by the City of Forney to the Kaufman County Fresh Water Supply District No. 1, also known as Windmill Farms, be established until a final decision is determined by the PUC.
The City of Forney is a North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) member city and has been the exclusive water supplier to the three petitioners for, in some cases, several decades.
In the early 2000s, during a period of explosive growth, the City of Forney, the petitioners, and Windmill Farms entered into an agreement to build future and shared improvements to increase water supplies available from the NTMWD to the City of Forney and ultimately to the petitioners.
In May 2006, with the first major improvement, Phase 1 of Pump Station No. 2, the City of Forney required the petitioners to enter into new wholesale water contracts which required the petitioners to pay the greater of 61 cents more per 1,000 gallons or 63-percent more per 1,000 gallons than the rate the City of Forney purchases water from the NTMWD, according to the petition.
"The New Wholesale Contract altered the method for calculating the wholesale rate charged to the Petitioners, although the impact of that change was insignificant at the time,” states the petition.
Over the past several years, the NTMWD has increased its rates by 10 percent and the City of Forney has passed on those increases to its wholesale customers, in accordance with the agreements.
The latest such increase came in 2017 with a 25-cent increase, approximately 10 percent, for the City of Forney — from $2.53 to $2.78 per 1,000 gallons. The increase represented a 41-cent increase in the wholesale water rate for the petitioners — from $4.12 to $4.53 per 1,000 gallons.
Last month, PUC staff members reviewed the petition at the request of the Administrative Law Judge and recommended the case be referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) in accordance with the Texas Administrative Code.
The petitioners are requesting, among other things, the PUC review the rates to determine if they are “unreasonably preferential, prejudicial, or discriminatory, compared to the wholesale rates the City charges other wholesale customers?”
Among the other requests is questioning to determine the actual cost of delivery from the City of Forney to its wholesale customers — including costs for operation, maintenance, and bonds.
In their response to issues, the City of Forney states: “Forney believes it is appropriate for this case to proceed in two phases — phase one to allow the Commission to determine whether the protested rate is adverse to the public interest and phase two, if required, for an evidentiary hearing to determine just and reasonable rates.”
Additionally, the City of Forney requests the determination in phase one not be based on the petitioners’ costs of service.
The list of issues from each party and the petitioners’ 32-point first request for information with the City of Forney were filed earlier this month.
See below for the petition and attached wholesale water contracts.
High Point WSC, Talty SUD, and Markout WSC petition Public Utilities Commission to review City of Forney wa... by inForney.com on Scribd