Case Background
The Woods
Utility (The Woods or Utility) is a Class C utility serving approximately 58
residential water customers, one general service water customer, and 52
residential wastewater customers in Sumter County. On June 6, 2019, The Woods
filed a petition for a staff-assisted rate case. On January 6, 2020, the
Utility was notified by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
that tap water samples taken from customers’ premises exceeded the allowable
lead action level twice in 2019. In the first half of 2019, three samples
exceeded lead levels, and in the second half of 2019, six samples exceeded lead
levels and three exceeded copper levels. As a result, the DEP has mandated that
additional actions are required to address lead and copper levels.
On March 25, 2020, the Commission issued
Order No. PSC-2020-0087-PAA-WS (PAA Order), which found the quality of the Utility’s
service to be unsatisfactory and imposed a 100 basis point penalty. The PAA Order requires the Utility to file
status reports every six months detailing the actions it has taken to address the
DEP’s concerns, engage with customers and the Office of Public Counsel (OPC),
and also to submit an action plan detailing how it will address the lead and
copper levels. Both the status report and action plan are due six months after
the issuance of the Final Order. The Final Order, issued on May 14, 2020, set November 14, 2020, as the due date for
the Utility’s action plan and first status report. On July 24, 2020, the
Utility filed a request for an extension of time to comply with the reporting
requirements of the PAA Order.
The Commission
has jurisdiction in this case pursuant to Sections 367.011, 367.081, 367.0812,
367.0814, 367.091, and 367.121, Florida Statutes (F.S.).
Discussion
of Issues
Issue 1:
Should The Woods’ request for an extension of time
to comply with Order No. PSC-2020-0087-PAA-WS be granted?
Recommendation:
Yes. The Woods’ request for an additional six months
to comply with the PAA Order’s filing requirements, including an action plan
and first status report, should be granted due to the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic. Furthermore, staff recommends that it be given administrative
authority to grant one additional time extension if good cause is shown. (D.
Phillips)
Staff Analysis:
In relevant part, the Commission’s PAA Order
states:
The DEP has mandated that the Utility take action to
address lead and copper exceedances. We therefore find that the quality of the
Utility’s product is unsatisfactory. Accordingly, a 100 basis point reduction
shall be applied, as further discussed in Section 5. The Utility shall file an
action plan with this Commission detailing how it will address excessive lead
and copper levels six months after the Final Order is issued in this docket.
Additionally, the Utility shall engage with its customers and with the Office
of Public Counsel on its efforts to ameliorate the quality of its product. The
Utility shall file status reports with this Commission detailing the actions it
has taken to meet the DEP’s requirements and its engagement efforts with its
customers and with the Office of Public Counsel. The first status report shall
be filed six months after the Final Order is issued in this Docket and every
six months thereafter, until the additional monitoring is rescinded by the DEP.
As the PAA Order was made final on May 14, 2020, the
required filing date for the action plan and the first status report is
November 14, 2020.
On July 24, 2020, the Utility filed a petition requesting,
at a minimum, an additional six months to comply with the PAA Order’s reporting
requirements. This would move the required filing date to May 14, 2021. The
petition states that the Utility had planned to begin to collect lead and
copper water samples from inside customers’ homes as required by the DEP,
conduct surveys of customer plumbing, and further distribution sampling. Per
the Utility, the DEP has granted permission to delay these activities due to
the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce in-person contact with customers.
Staff notes that although the Utility has requested a
delay in filing its action plan and status report, its operator has met with a
representative of their chemical supplier on site to assist in finding an
appropriate dosage of the sequestrant (Aquagold) used in the water system. The
Utility also advised that a decline in the lead exceedances has occurred. In
August 2019, there were six lead exceedances and in samples taken in June 2020
there were two lead exceedances. Of the six residences that exceeded allowable
lead levels in August 2019, four were re-tested in June 2020 and none exceeded
allowable levels.
It appears that the Utility is working toward resolving
the lead and copper exceedances; but, due to the pandemic, it cannot meet all
requirements of the Commission’s PAA Order at this time. Staff believes the
proposed delay in the action plan filing and status reporting appears reasonable
and is consistent with the DEP’s approval of a delay to minimize in-person
contact.
Conclusion
Staff recommends that The Woods’ request for an additional
six months to comply with the PAA Order’s filing requirements, including an action
plan and first status report, should be granted due to the impacts of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, staff recommends that it be given
administrative authority to grant one additional time extension if good cause
is shown.
Issue 2:
Should this docket be closed?
Recommendation:
No. If no person whose
substantial interests are affected by the proposed agency action files a
protest within 21 days of the issuance of the Proposed Agency Action Order, a
Consummating Order should be issued. The docket should remain open for
staff’s verification of the Utility’s required biannual status reports until
additional monitoring is rescinded by the DEP. Once
these actions are complete, this docket should be closed administratively if no adjustments are necessary.
Staff Analysis:
If no person whose
substantial interests are affected by the proposed agency action files a
protest within 21 days of the issuance of the Proposed Agency Action Order, a
Consummating Order should be issued. The docket should remain open for
staff’s verification of the Utility’s required biannual status reports until
additional monitoring is rescinded by the DEP. Once
these actions are complete, this docket should be closed administratively if no adjustments are necessary.
