PUC issues ruling in Austin Water case

The Texas Public Utility Commission issued a ruling Thursday lowering water and wastewater rates for four municipal utility districts composed of more than 46,000 Austin Water customers. The order comes after the PUC denied, in December, a motion for rehearing that the city filed in response to an October PUC ruling. That original ruling partially granted the districts’ petition to contest water and wastewater rates that went into effect in 2013, ordering the city to lower rates for those customers and refund whatever revenue it collected over the PUC-mandated rates since the 2013 rates went into effect. The new ruling also partially grants a November motion for rehearing from the districts and excludes Water Treatment Plant No. 4 from the city’s revenue requirements. The petitioners are the North Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1, Northtown MUD, Travis County Water Control and Improvement District No. 10 and Wells Branch MUD.