STAFF REPORT
SAN DIMAS, Calif.– Golden State Water Company (Golden State Water) recently filed to decrease water rates for all service areas to pass cost savings from the new lower federal corporate income tax requirement through to customers. If approved as submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), rates will decrease by 3.94 percent on July 1, 2018 for residential customers in Artesia, Athens, Bell, Bell Gardens, Carson, Cerritos, Compton, Cudahy, Culver City, Del Aire, Downey, El Camino Village, El Segundo, Gardena, Gardena Heights, Hawaiian Gardens, Hawthorne, Hollydale, Huntington Park, Inglewood, La Mirada, Lakewood, Lawndale, Lennox, Long Beach, Norwalk, Paramount, Redondo Beach, Santa Fe Springs, South Gate, Vernon and Willowbrook.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 lowered the nation’s federal corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, effective January 1, 2018. As directed by the CPUC, Golden State Water is tracking the impact of the new corporate tax rate and other changes in tax law, and will submit a separate filing to credit customers for any revenue surplus resulting from the reduced tax expense during the period from January 1 – June 30, 2018.
“Golden State Water is regulated by the State of California to ensure water bills reflect the full cost of providing water service and making capital investments that are critical to continue providing quality, reliable water service to customers,” said Denise Kruger, Senior Vice President of Regulated Utilities for Golden State Water. “The new tax law reduces our costs, and we are eager to pass along those savings to our customers.”
The new federal corporate income tax rate will also lower rates proposed in Golden State Water’s General Rate Case filing for 2019-2021. Golden State Water is working with the CPUC to adjust the rate proposal and revenue requirement to reflect the lower tax requirement, which was signed into law after the rate case was filed in July 2017.
For more information regarding Golden State Water, customers are encouraged to call the 24-hour Customer Service Center at 800.999.4033, visit www.gswater.com or follow @GoldenStateH2O on Facebook and Twitter.