Suburban Water Systems General Rate Case (A.26-01-001)

BACKGROUND

All investor-owned utilities must obtain approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) of their budgeted expenses and investments before utilities are able to include those costs in rates charged to customers.  This is done primarily through a General Rate Case (GRC) application to the CPUC to justify a proposed budget.

On January 2, 2026, Suburban filed its GRC application to change customer rates beginning 2027. Suburban requests authorization to increase its current average system rates for water service by approximately 41% by 2029. On February 9, 2026, the Public Advocates Office protested Suburban’s application and provided its report and recommendations on April 15, 2026. Cal Advocates report is based upon its independent analysis of Suburban’s GRC application.  The links to the reports are provided below.

PUBLIC ADVOCATES OFFICE’S POSITION

The following table compares Suburban's proposed and the Public Advocates Office' recommended average system rate changes and average ratepayer bill impact.

The Public Advocates Office recommends a total revenue requirement of $108 million in 2027, $15 million less than Suburban's requested revenue requirement of $123 million in its application. These recommendations provide a reasonable level of ratepayer funding for Suburban to maintain safe and reliable service levels. In addition to recommending decreases in the average system rate for water services, the Public Advocates Office also made the following recommendations to the CPUC:

• 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 CPUC must ensure that Suburban does not abuse its position as a natural monopoly.
• The CPUC should limit alternative ratemaking mechanisms that result in surcharges on customers’ bills.

Download:

Testimony and Reports: