Carlucci: “Throw United Water Proposal Into the Deep End”

Senator David Carlucci today will call on the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to formally reject a bid by United Water to hike utility bills on its customers and instead go back to the drawing board.  Under the proposal, customers would be saddled with a $144 dollar annual increase in their water bills, a sharp increase of nearly $12 per month.

He will be joined Monday by Rockland homeowners who are already stretched to the breaking point and cannot afford any additional rate increases.  If the measure ultimately goes through, by June of next year ratepayers could be on the hook for an annual bill reaching upwards of $880.

The proposed hike by United Water comes just after the utility company decided in June it would seek to tack on a $4.96 per month surcharge for a four-person family’s bill, beginning in August, to cover costs associated with the controversial desalination project in Haverstraw.