Lake Oconee-area property owners complaining of exorbitant water rates urged Georgia lawmakers Wednesday to bring private water systems in Georgia under the same regulations that apply to municipal systems.

Piedmont Water Co., the state’s second-largest private water system, is charging the second-highest water rates in Georgia, lower only than the private system serving the community of Big Canoe, property owner Mike Hartman told a Georgia House study committee at a hearing in Greensboro. Hartman said he was charged $19,250 to connect his new home to the Piedmont system in 2022.

“Private water systems must be regulated,” he said. “That’s the only way to fix this problem.”

State Rep. Trey Rhodes, R-Greensboro, chairman of the House Study Committee on Private Water Systems, introduced legislation this year requiring the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) to regulate private water systems. The bill made it through the House Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications Committee but failed to reach the floor for a vote.

“City and county water systems have public oversight. Private water systems do not,” Rhodes said Wednesday. “We need them, but we need to see if there needs to be oversight.”

Brent Hurst, Piedmont Water’s chief operating officer, said the company has spent almost $40 million on capital projects to keep up with growing demand for water in its fast-growing service area covering Greene and Putnam counties, including $15 million for a new water treatment plant.

Hurst said much of that new investment has been driven by a huge spike in demand every summer for irrigation needs.

“You have to have the production capability to meet it,” he said. “It requires a lot of investment.”

Hurst said most of the complaints about Piedmont’s water rates have come from irrigation customers who use a disproportionately large amount of water, a remark that drew laughter from the large crowd on hand for the hearing.

“This is not about just a few people,” said Rhodes, pointing to the crowd. “All I want for my people is a fair price.”

The company disputed Hartman’s characterization of its rates. Piedmont charges $82.55 per month for a family of four using roughly 5,000 gallons monthly, less than the Social Circle and Sky Valley water systems, according to a Piedmont power point presentation.

Hurst said giving the PSC jurisdiction over private water systems would force Piedmont to spend $500,000 to $750,000 to prepare a rate case study, driving up the company’s operating costs.

Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City, a member of the study committee, said Piedmont could recover those costs from customers, just as electric and gas utilities regulated by the PSC recoup such costs from ratepayers.

Commission Chairman Jason Shaw, also a member of the committee, said adding private water systems to the PSC’s responsibilities would require increasing the agency’s budget to hire more staff. With the commission legally bound to set rates that provide regulated utilities a fair return on their investment, there would be no guarantee water rates would go down, he said.

“The regulated model is not always the cheapest solution,” Shaw said.

But Jacob Fried, who owns a car wash in Eatonton, said there are real-life consequences to allowing private water systems to set rates with no oversight. He said he was forced into bankruptcy during a legal dispute with Piedmont and had to sell his house.

Fried urged the study committee to push for legislation that would provide that oversight.

“They have no rulebook to play by,” he said. “Give them a rulebook and some guidelines.”

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