Residents of Southern Shores Landing spoke in opposition yesterday to a doubling of their monthly sewage costs, as requested by the SAGA Realty & Construction subsidiary that operates their wastewater treatment plant, at a consumers’ hearing held in Manteo before an examiner for the N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC).
The Outer Banks Voice covered the hearing, which it reports was held at the Dare County Courthouse before NCUC examiner Anne Winstead, identified as a public utilities regulatory analyst on the Commission’s website. We refer you to a news article by Kip Tapp about the hearing in today’s Voice and thank him for his coverage.
A full hearing on the rate increase requested by subsidiary GWWTP, LLC, whose acronym stands for Ginguite Woods Wastewater Treatment Plant, will be held in Raleigh on May 7, according to The Voice.
A GWWTP representative reportedly testified before Ms. Winstead in a hearing on March 11.
GWWTP, which was appointed in January as the emergency operator of the Ginguite Woods treatment plant, has proposed a rate increase of $90 per month—from $90 to $180 per month—according to an order by the Commission that approves the increase on a provisional basis.
The rate requested is based on a “single family equivalent” (SFE) usage of 360 gallons per day.
In the same order, the NCUC grants a motion by GWWTP to serve as the Ginguite wastewater treatment plant’s emergency operator and discharges Enviro-Tech of N.C., which had been serving that role.
See the order at https://starw1.ncuc.gov/NCUC/ViewFile.aspx?Id=5ae0e5e7-1d9a-4846-a4b0-ad8b6372a1b0
The N.C. Utilities Commission is a state agency that regulates the rates and services of public utilities in North Carolina. The consumer public is represented in rate hearings by a member of the Commission’s Public Staff. Attorney Davia Newell, of the Public Staff, will be representing Southern Shores Landing residents as their public advocate.
Ms. Newell reportedly attended yesterday’s hearing and visited the Ginguite Woods site.
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JUST ANNOUNCED: The Town of Southern Shores’ springtime large-item collection will be Friday, April 12.
THE BEACON, 3/20/24
The Southern Shores Beacon 