Sky-high Central Florida water bills to rise again, unless county agrees to a buyout
When Nichole Krause moved to Wedgefield with her two children five years ago, one of the first things to hit her was the community’s sky-high water rates.
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Krause said her first bill reached triple-digits, even though it was issued days after she moved in. Since then, she’s been accustomed to saving water at every turn in order to keep her payments below $200 per month.
“I’m definitely knocking on the door for the kids in the shower every few minutes,” she said. “Gardening is out the window… We don’t do the dishes like we used to.”
Krause was not the only one. Sue and Jon Grode moved from Oklahoma around the same time, and quickly got to work replacing almost every appliance in the house that consumed water.
“You take a shower and you hope the drips get you clean,” Sue Grode joked.
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Grode, Krause, and their neighbors pay some of the highest water rates in Central Florida through the community’s water company, Pluris. The company services approximately 1,800 parcels in North Wedgefield, county documents showed.
However, Pluris is now proposing another rate increase. Even though its current rates result in its customers paying nearly twice as much as others for water, the company is proposing to hike its drinking water and wastewater rates 46% and 108%, respectively.
In a letter mailed to its customers, Pluris said it hadn’t asked for a general rate increase in a decade.
“My jaw just dropped,” Jon Grode said, when he first saw the proposal.
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WFTV emailed OUC, Toho (Osceola County) and Orange County to find out how much their rates had increased over the last 10 years. Of the three, Toho’s increases – 45% across the board -- were the closest to what Pluris is proposing, and the organization charges far less than its counterpart.
However, Pluris is giving customers and regulators an off-ramp. The letter said the rate increases would not go into effect if Orange County commissioners bought the Wedgefield operation out. The county has been exploring a takeover for the better part of a decade, though Pluris said discussions between the two parties have been ongoing for three years.
The letter encouraged customers to contact commissioners ahead of the BCC meeting Tuesday, when commissioners were scheduled to discuss a buyout.
Residents said they believed the proposal was retaliation for a lawsuit settlement over alleged contaminated drinking water that cost the company $3 million earlier this year.
“I think they’re trying to find a way to recover the loss,” Krause said.
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Krause and the Grodes were in favor of a buyout. Since Wedgefield is six miles away from Orange County’s pipes and a direct connection is unfeasible, the customers would have to pay the county back, resulting in a fee being added to their tax bills for the next 20 years.
However, they believed the reduction in water rates would more than pay for that fee.
The Grodes pointed out that much of Pluris’ equipment was nearing 60 years old, and they expected bills would continue to increase as replacements were needed. Krause said she expected rate increases to stabilize and customer service to improve.
Pluris representatives didn’t have much to say when emailed for comment. They supplied the same 10-year increase explanation, even after being told other water companies hiked rates in smaller amounts and asked if any other explanation was available.
When asked if the company had any other comments to make, a representative wrote back, “No.”
Orange County staff said the Tuesday public comment and discussion would offer guidance but not be a final decision. They said the county had no control over Pluris’ rate increases and directed any complaints to the state Public Service Commission.
“The case is in its very early stages, and the PSC has not received any information from Pluris on its intended rate increase request or established a timeline for Commission review,” Clerk Cindy Muir wrote in a response. “Customers are invited to contact the PSC about the case by… emailing: contact@psc.state.fl.us. Customers should reference docket number: 20230083 in their correspondence.”
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