WATER BAN STATUS

Friday, July 16, 2010
Contact: Dave Condrey
508-473-5110

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Milford Water Company Files Rate Increase

Milford Water Company announced today that it has filed for a rate increase with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. Milford Water’s rate request was filed with the Department of Public Utilities late on Thursday afternoon. The Department must review and approve any change in the Company’s rates and is expected to take up to ten months to consider the Company’s request. Milford Water’s last general rate increase was filed in 2005.

“Milford Water’s efforts to minimize its operating costs enabled the company to wait nearly 5 years between rate requests,” Milford Water’s General Manager, Dave Condrey said, “but the Company is at a critical crossroad where costs are outstripping revenues at a time when we must continue to make significant investment in our facilities. Many of these investments are required to meet increasingly stringent state and federal drinking water standards,” Mr. Condrey noted.

The Company seeks to increase annual revenues by approximately $1.7 million. One-half of that request recognizes the nearly $4 million in additional investment that Milford Water has made in system improvements and expansion since its filing in 2005 in order to provide continued excellent service to its customers. “Milford Water Company’s rates today are among the lowest in the region,” Mr. Condrey explained. “The amount of the requested rate increase, if granted in full by the Department, would add about 32 cents per day for a typical residential customer,” Mr. Condrey stated. “In addition, Milford Water’s rates, even with the increase requested in this filing, will continue to compare favorably with the rates in the communities which neighbor the Town of Milford. In fact, Milford Water’s bill for a typical residential customer under the proposed rates will be less than the average of the surrounding communities and, in many instances, the Company’s rates will be lower than what residents pay in the surrounding towns.”

Milford Water experienced a water quality incident in August 2009 that resulted in the state issuing a “boil water order” for the Company’s customers. By far, the largest expense incurred during that event was for the purchase and distribution of bottled water to the Company’s customers, without charge, in order to offer an alternative for safe drinking water. The Company spent $286,170 in that effort. Additional funds were expended as a reimbursement to the Town for its employees and related expenses incurred by the Town to help distribute the water in an orderly fashion. “Although the Company acted prudently and responsibly throughout the August 2009 water quality event, particularly with regard to its decision to purchase bottled water,” stated Dave White, the Company’s President, “the Company also recognizes the inconvenience to the Town and the Company’s customers caused by this incident. Thus, as a goodwill gesture to its customers, coupled with the Company’s desire to minimize the size of the overall increase sought in the rate request filed this week, the Company has voluntarily elected not to seek recovery of the unusual costs associated with this incident – over $380,000.”

The Company expects the Department of Public Utilities to conduct a public hearing in Milford on its rate filing later this summer.

Q. Have you considered how the Company’s water rates compare with the rates charged by other water systems?

A. Yes. The Company’s current rates, according to the most recent Tighe & Bond 2009 Massachusetts Water Rate Survey, are among the lowest when compared to the rates charged by other providers serving neighboring communities such as Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Bellingham, Mendon, Uxbridge and Medway. Even with the increase requested in this case, the Company’s rates compare very favorably to the rates charged in other communities. Despite the size of the increase on a percentage basis, the increase sought by the Company in this case adds approximately $0.32 per day to the quarterly bill for a typical residential customer. Thus, the total customer bill for a typical residential customer with the increase sought in this filing leaves the Company’s charges in line with, and often below, neighboring communities. For example, for a typical residential customer, using an average of 3,000 cubic feet of water per calendar quarter, the total water charges in the various communities appear as follows:

Provider / Community	Service Charge	Usage Rate (per HCF / 1000 gallons)	Total Charges
Milford Water Company	$25.34	$3.031	$116.27
Holliston	$7.50	$3.96(first 1500ccf) $6.09(1501-3900ccf)	$158.25
Hopedale	$15.00	$2.25(first 500ccf)$3.25(501-2000ccf) $4.25(2001-4000ccf)	$120.00
Hopkinton	$0.00	$22.00(first 1000ccf) $2.70(next 7000ccf)	$76.00
Bellingham	$19.00	$3.55(first 12000gals) $3.95(12001-50000gals)	$102.84
Uxbridge	$31.38(CIP Charges)	$20.72(0-800ccf) $2.46(801-3000ccf)	$106.22
Mendon	$15.00	$50.00(0-1000ccf) $5.00(1100-3500ccf)	$165.00
Medway	$25.00	$3.89(0-4000ccf)	$141.70

As can be seen, the Company’s proposed rates bring a customer’s total bill for a calendar quarter ($116.27) just below the average bill for the surrounding seven communities ($870.01 ÷ 7 = $124.28).