Cal-Am: Giving Monterey Customers What They Want?

Last month, California American Water (Cal-Am) customers in the Monterey Peninsula service territory received the annual Consumer Confidence Report that measures the quality of Cal-Am’s water against the standards established by the United Sates Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report shows customers they had indeed met all standards set by the state and EPA. It also gives details on the drinking water sources for the Monterey customers, the tests that were conducted on those water sources, and the substances that were found in the water and the level of those that were in the water. Customers who rent housing, and do not pay their water bills directly, could request this report by contacting Cal-Am’s customer service department.

As customers in the Monterey area should be happy that the company that provides their water is abiding by all standards set by authorities, there is some speculation to a certain water source in the local area. In fact, in 2005, Monterey customers were angry at Cal-Am, and the way they were treating the Carmel River.

Cal-Am owns the rights to the water in the Carmel River. In the past few years, the people of Monterey who are provided water by Cal-Am have complained that their service has been inadequate and that they have exploited the water of the Carmel River. The customers in the Monterey area sought change, and looked into the possibility of the community buying back the Carmel River water. Measure W was created and placed on the November 2005 ballot, and would have funded money to perform a study on the process for a community buy out of the local waterworks. To silence the community, Cal-Am increased their spending. “Cal-Am was able to defeat the measure by outspending the community group 10-1. The company spent $300,000 making the campaign the most expensive in Monterey history” (Food and Water Watch). The people were not successful, and a Monterey judge allowed the company to pass their public outreach costs to the customers, which began in January of 2007. By 2010, Cal-Am plans to increase rates by 300 percent.

With prices on a slow increase for the Monterey customers, they are at least getting clean, abundant amounts of water each month. Monterey is not the only city that is unhappy with Cal-Am lately. Sacramento customers are seeing the same pattern. A total of $73.7 million of capital investment is proposed by Cal-Am for their Sacramento system. If the company’s application is approved in its entirety, the bill for the residents in the Sacramento area will increase about 33%. Currently, community meetings are being planned to inform customers. As this capital investment plan was just released about a month ago, we have yet to see how the Sacramento customers will respond. Will they re-act as the Monterey customers do, or take a different route, as those in Monterey were unsuccessful in their fight against Cal-Am?