Dear San Jose Water Customers,

In January 2021 San Jose Water Company asked for a 18-23% increase in the water rates over the next three years, which means the average monthly bill will rise $17 from $93 to $110. This continues a pattern of raising our water rates every year. As captive San Jose Water customers we have no choice but to pay more when they raise our water rates. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is supposed to prevent San Jose Water from unnecessary price increases but has rarely done so over the past ten years.

San Jose Water has a monopoly on providing water to its customers yet they are a for-profit company on the New York Stock Exchange. Since 2011 our water rates have gone from $3.23 per 748 gallons to $9 per 748 gallons, which means our rates have nearly tripled in the past ten years. Over the same time period, San Jose Water’s stock price has nearly tripled, which shows our rate increases may go towards shareholder profits rather than justifiable costs.

As ratepayers, we will have two opportunities to tell the CPUC and the San Jose City Council that enough is enough and San Jose Water should not be allowed to raise water rates without cause. We urge you to sign this petition and consequently we will invite you to attend March 23 and May 23 meetings where we can demonstrate that we will not tolerate ever increasing water rates from San Jose Water. Even if you don’t want to speak, your attendance will be appreciated to send a very strong message to San Jose Water officials in the presence of the CPUC and the San Jose City Council.

San Jose has some of the highest “big city” water rates in the country and we are financing the growth and repairs of water systems that San Jose water has purchased in Connecticut and Texas. If we let them, San Jose Water will continue raising the water rates on their customers to pay for “massive infrastructure” upgrades such as automatic meters then it already is now, and costing customers millions more.

Sincerely,

San Jose District 10 Water Rate Working Group