Cal American Water Company General Rate Case (A.25-07-003)
BACKGROUND
All investor-owned utilities must obtain approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for the rates they charge customers. This is done primarily through a General Rate Case (GRC) application to the CPUC to justify a proposed budget.
On July 1, 2025, Cal Am filed its GRC application to increase rates for water service by approximately 30.3% by 2029. On August 4, 2025, the Public Advocates Office (Public Advocates) protested Cal Am’s application. The Public Advocates provided reports and recommendations on January 23, 2026, which are available below.
PUBLIC ADVOCATES OFFICE’S POSITION
The following table compares Cal Am proposed and the Public Advocates Office recommended average system rate changes.
|
|
Cal Am’s Request |
Public Advocates Office’s Recommendation |
||
|
Year |
Increased Revenue |
Percentage Increase |
Revenue Change |
Percentage Change |
|
2027 |
$63.0 million |
18.71% |
$12.1 million |
3.24% |
|
2028 |
$22.4 million |
5.50% |
$14.6 million |
3.75% |
|
2029 |
$26.0 million |
5.30% |
$8.5 million |
2.12% |
In addition to recommending decreases in the average system rate for water services for 2024, the Public Advocates Office also made the following recommendations to the Commission:
- The ratemaking process should be transparent to decision-makers and ratepayers and encourage utilities to operate efficiently and within a reasonable budget.
- As a substitute for competition, the Commission must ensure that Cal Am does not abuse its position as a natural monopoly.
- The Commission should limit alternative ratemaking mechanisms that result in surcharges on customers’ bills.
PUBLIC ADVOCATES DOWNLOADS:
The Public Advocates Office’s Protest
Testimony and Reports:
- Executive Summary and Results of Operations Summary Tables (Yu and Adhikari)
- Labor and Benefits, Performance Compensation, and Special Requests 1 and 7 (Lam)
- Operation and Maintenance Expense Budget (Ronco)
- Administrative and General Expense Budget (Keowen)
- Capital Budgets and Plants Northern Division (Menda)
- Capital Budget and Plants Central Division and Tank Painting Budgets (Goldberg)
- Capital Budgets and Plants Southern Division, CWIP, and Corporate Capital (Ibrahim)
- Vehicle Budget, Depreciation, Average Depreciation, Cost of Removal, and Early Retirement (Nasserie)
- Service Company Budget and Affiliated Transactions (Cunningham)
- Water Consumption, Rate Design, Conservation Budget, and Special Requests 5 and 6 (Merida)
- Customer Service, Environmental and Social Justice, Water Quality, and Special Requests 10 and 11 (Serwaa)
- Taxes, Rate Base, and Special Requests 2 and 9 (Adhikari)
- Memorandum and Balancing Accounts and Special Request 8 (Baki)
Additional information regarding this proceeding can be obtained from the CPUC’s docket.