City of Chattanooga Appeals Water Rate Increase.CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The City of Chattanooga has appealed the Tennessee Regulatory Authority The Tennessee Regulatory Authority (TRA) is the Tennessee governmental unit charged with the responsibility of setting rates and service standards for privately owned telephone, natural gas, electric and water utilities. (TRA TRA Training TRA Transfer TRA Transition TRA Tennessee Regulatory Authority TRA Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Oman) TRA Tax Reform Act (1976, 1984, or 1986) TRA Teachers Retirement Association ) decision granting a 12.20 percent increase to Tennessee-American Water Company in the 2006 rate case filed by Tennessee-American. The rate increase, which was put into effect May 2007, increased water rates by $4,079,865. "The City of Chattanooga has great respect for the TRA, but believes that the Authority did not correctly apply the provisions of Tennessee Tennessee, state, United States Tennessee (tĕn`əsē', tĕn'əsē`), state in the south-central United States. law that place the burden on Tennessee-American to prove that it is prudently managing its system and that the costs it seeks to pass on to ratepayers are just and reasonable," stated Mike McMahan, Chattanooga Assistant City Attorney. The City of Chattanooga intervened in the 2006 Tennessee-American rate case to oppose Tennessee-American's request for an increase of over 19.67 percent. The City's opposition focused on the large increases in administrative fees that Tennessee-American pays to its parent, American Water Works Company, and to other related companies. The City pointed out that the management fees sought by Tennessee-American had more than tripled since 1996, from some $1,300,000 to more than $4,064,000, in Tennessee-American's 2006 rate filing. Regarding the 2006 case, the TRA decided in May 2007 to permit Tennessee-American to increase its rates by $4,079,865, or 12.20 percent. The formal order granting the rate increase was not entered until June 2008, nearly three months after Tennessee-American filed another rate case seeking an increase of another 20.58 percent. Under Tennessee law, parties to the 2006 case had 60 days from the entry of the final order in a rate case to file an appeal. The City's appeal was filed within that time period. Fight the Hike--endorsed by Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield Ron Littlefield is an American politician and the current mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was elected via a run-off election in 2005 after a long term as a city councilman.[1] He is the former executive director of Chattanooga Venture. , Hamilton County Hamilton County is the name of a number of counties in the United States of America, named for Alexander Hamilton, first United States Secretary of the Treasury (except as indicated below):
Belgian-born American biologist who was among the first to use the electron microscope for biological research. He shared a 1974 Nobel Prize for developing methods of separating and analyzing cell components. Ramsey, Chattanooga area chapters of the Urban League and NAACP NAACP in full National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. , the Chattanooga Manufacturer's Association, RiverCity Company and the Chattanooga Association of Realtors--is a coalition of citizens and businesses vowing to fight the 20.58 percent water rate hike proposal. "Chattanooga already has the most expensive water rates out of Tennessee's six largest cities," said Chattanooga businessman Randy Baker, chair of the Fight the Hike campaign. "We cannot tolerate tol·er·ate v. 1. To allow without prohibiting or opposing; permit. 2. To put up with; endure. 3. To have tolerance for a substance or pathogen. increases like this when the average family is struggling to make ends meet. Plus, this could have a negative impact on business recruitment in Chattanooga." For information about Fight the Hike, visit www.FighttheHike.org. |
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