Aldine Ratepayers settle contested water rate

By ARLENE NICHOLS Special to the Northeast News
NORTHEAST HOUSTON–The Aldine Ratepayers Association has reached a settlement with Texas American Water (TWA) in the contested water rate case that was filed earlier this year, Rep. Kevin Bailey announced. Customers will see a reduction in rates as a result of the agreement.
“Residents in the neighborhoods served by Texas American Water will be seeing a significant reduction in their water bills after the first of the year along with refunds and improvements in customer service,” said Bailey. “The settlement agreement is a victory for our folks but it is just the first step in dealing with the arrogant attitude this company has demonstrated. My constituents have suffered from poor service and excessive rates at the hands of this company. It is my intent to file legislation to prevent companies from imposing higher rates before there is an opportunity for the new rates to be legally challenged.”
According to Bailey the base rate for water will be reduced from $30.50 to $20.00 with an additional charge of $3.33 per thousand gallons of water usage.The base rate for sewer will be reduced from $38.10 to $23.00 with an additional charge of $3.69 per thousand gallons.

The structure of the company’s rates was changed along with the reduction in base rates so that low end users will not be paying a disproportionate amount.
TWA will be refunding to their customers the difference between the new rates and the rates that are currently being charged. A refund with interest will be paid in the billing cycle on or after January 17, 2008. TWA will extend its bill due dates to allow normal payment within 21 days from the date the bill is mailed to the customer. TWA will place a text message in its standard monthly bills notifying customers in Spanish that Spanish language assistance is available at the call center and provide the phone number.
“I am thankful that the East Aldine Management District was able to hire attorney Jim Boyle to represent area residents as we went through the hearing and negotiation process,” said Bailey. “The impact of having a strong unified voice for our neighborhoods is apparent from the agreement we were able to negotiate. Fortunately the special districts that I created legislatively are providing essential services to our residents that they have lacked in the past.”
The Aldine Ratepayers Association will be holding a meeting to celebrate their victory on Dec. 5 at 7:00 p.m. The meet will be held in the Community Room of the Aldine Sheriff’s Storefront located at 5202 Aldine Mail Route.
Earlier this year a group of area residents from Greenwood Village led by Representative Kevin Bailey and community leader, Irene Garcia, successfully forced TWA , an international utility company, into a contested water rate hearing.
The water utilities for several North Houston neighborhoods, were purchased last year by one of the world’s largest energy corporations and the new owner immediately filed a rate increase. North Houston neighborhoods impacted by the settlement include Greenwood Village, Mary Francis, Kenwood, Bertrand, Aldine Meadows and Colonial Hills.