PUC considering water price hike; Pittsburgh Brewers Guild, Kennywood blast potential move - WTAE Pittsburgh

PUC considering water price hike

Pittsburgh Brewers Guild, Kennywood and Sandcastle GM blast Pa. American Water rate hike request before PUC vote

A group of Pittsburgh area brewers is going forces with Kennywood and Sandcastle to speak out, warning against Pennsylvania American Water's proposed rate increase that goes before the state Public Utility Commission for a vote Thursday.

They claim it will boost residential customers' bills by nearly 25 percent and more than double that percentage increase for businesses.

"The proposed rate increase is about 60%, which means our greatest ingredient used in brewing is water (is affected. ) There's no other option for us to find another resource. This is it. So this really poses a big challenge for our breweries, not just at a local level, but statewide," Melissa Larrick, executive director of the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild, told Pittsburgh's Action News 4.

Larrick is also the senior marketing manager of Cinderlands Beer Company.

"It's no surprise that we, the brewing industry, have faced an onslaught of challenges since the pandemic with rising cost of materials. But we haven't seen an increase quite like this before," Larrick said.

The Guild warned that the impact of another rate hike would hurt their businesses, their customers, and the economy. They call the proposed increase, which would be the second in two years, unnecessary.

The general manager of Sandcastle and Kennywood joined Larrick in writing a newspaper opinion essay, sending the same message.

He wrote that Kennywood and Sandcastle would see their water bill would go up by more than $200,000, year to year.

He said that would drastically harm jobs in the parks and could force reduced operations, including closing some rides and food stands.

"Other utilities, there is an option to work on fixed rate. You can work with electricity, you can work with gas, and you can find different suppliers. When it comes to water, we don't really have an option. And at this point, (we'd bee) dealing with the previous rate increase and now a secondary rate increase on top of it," said Matt McMahon, chairman of the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild and owner of Eleventh Hour Brewing.

"You may see breweries closing because of this. You'd also see increased costs to the consumer because of all of those additional costs and everything that has been rising on a year-over-year basis since the pandemic. Now you're getting another thing on top of that, which is just another rate increase. So the majority of that still has to be passed down to the consumers," McMahon said.

Larrick said, "Not to mention that this challenge poses a big threat to sort of like a local economy. I mean, there are countless jobs that are tied in to our 43 active breweries just here in Allegheny County alone. So you couple that also with just the threat of, you know, tourism. The breweries here are a big source of the city's tourism."

"These additional costs, they're stacking up. But there's going to be a point where it's breaking the camel's back for a lot of these small businesses," McMahon said.

In a statement emailed to Pittsburgh's Action News 4, Pa. American Water wrote:

"Pennsylvania American Water acknowledges and understands the concerns expressed in this morning's op-eds by the representatives of Kennywood and the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild.

"Our rates are based on the actual cost of water and wastewater service. Customers' prices are driven mainly by the company's capital investments. These investments are critical to the public's health and safety, support economic health, and benefit commercial customers like Kennywood and those represented by the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild.

"Today's piece did not reference the $1 billion in water and wastewater system investments to be made through mid-2025 to continue providing safe and reliable service presented in the request to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), which also includes $158.6 million in system upgrades here in western Pennsylvania.

"Our request to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) reaffirms our commitment to investing in our water and wastewater systems. This investment is not just about replacing aging infrastructure but also about providing reliable service, enhancing water quality, complying with environmental regulations, and increasing fire protection.

"The authors argue that our request creates an unnecessary burden for families. However, they fail to mention that our proposal seeks to expand our income-based monthly bill discount program to include customers with incomes between 151 percent and 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

"This expansion would make an estimated 55,000 additional customers eligible for discounted service. Our company's assistance program currently offers three tiers of discounts of 30-80 percent off monthly water and wastewater bills for customers with incomes up to 150 percent of the FPL.

"In addition, Pennsylvania American Water has a pending payment arrangement program for commercial customers. Formerly exclusive to residential customers, this program will soon be available to many small businesses like the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild members."