CALL TO ACTION - Protest Advice Letter 513 SJWC is requesting to increase our rates another 4.43% effective January 1, 2018. This increase is in addition to the Cost of Capital request currently before the commission. Please go to https://sjwfacts.weebly.com/file-complaint.html for details and instructions on sending your protest. Deadline to protest is Dec. 5, 2017 so please send your protest ASAP. Advice Letter details can be found at https://sjwfacts.weebly.com/advice-letters.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cost of Capital If you haven’t already done so. Please send an email to Commissioners regarding lowering SJWC’s Rates of Return. It is important for the public to keep our views and concerns on the forefront with the commissioners while they are evaluating SJWC’s Cost of Capital application. The CPUC commissioners will be rendering a decision by end of year to increase or decrease SJWC’s return rates. What the commissioners decide will affect our rates going forward in next years General Rate Case Hearing. Please go to https://sjwfacts.weebly.com/cost-of-capital.html for information on sending an email to the Commissioners. I have posted a summary of the our talking points on the WRATES website under Cost of Capital for you to draw inspiration from when writing your email. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STATEWIDE COALITION News WRATES’s alliance with the Statewide Coalition formed by our friends in Lancaster is growing stronger and together we are making progress. We have been sharing information with additional cities that are also subjected to outrageous investor-owned utility water rates with the end result of them joining the coalition. The newest city to join the coalition is Lucerne in Lake County. I added a new WRATES webpage with links and information about what the Coalition has been accomplishing. Go to https://sjwfacts.weebly.com/coalition.html for information and links. The elected officials in Lancaster in Antelope Valley have been very proactive in their community to bring an end to the unsustainable water rates, hold the CPUC accountable, and lower water rates. Mayor R. Rex Parris and council members of Lancaster, recognizing that this is a bipartisan issue, have done more in 3 months for their community than any of our mayors and council members have done in over a year. Here is a link to the Nov. 14, 2017 Lancaster Council meeting where they discussed and adopted a resolution to take action and assist the Coalition in anyway they can to achieve the Coalition’s goals. (start at minute 19 - it’s worth watching.) http://lancaster.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1544&meta_id=90976 Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the City mayors and City council members, senators and assemblymembers across the state serviced by investor-owned water utilities joined in supporting WRATES and the Statewide Coalition. Each elected official needs to remember that water concerns —cross all party lines— and are affecting all household and city budgets. **There will be a meeting in Southern California in the coming weeks where Mayor R. Rex Parris, members of the State Coalition, California Governor candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, and Senator Scott Wilk will be speaking about the water rate crisis. This should prove to be a positive turning point in our fight for justice. It is my understanding that the meeting will be videotaped. If so, I will provide a link for all to view. I will keep you posted. Keep up the good fight, Rita Benton WRATES, Water Rate Advocates for Transparency, Equity and Sustainability "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Meade