Water provider may continue to serve 18,600 Thousand Oaks homes
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

California-American Water Company (Cal-Am) may continue providing water to 18,600 Thousand Oaks homes for the next 15 years if a public franchise agreement wins approval.

Last month the city council declared its intention to grant the franchise. A public hearing on the matter will be held at 6 p.m. Tues., April 25 at City Hall in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

Cal-Am provides water primarily to Newbury Park, but it serves a portion of Thousand Oaks as well.

The agreement is part of a 2004 settlement made by the city with Cal-Am that required a new public franchise agreement be negotiated.

The public franchise gives Cal-Am sole right-of-way to provide water service, while at the same time allows the city better regulation, according to T.O. Public Works Director Mark Watkins. The water company pays a small fee to the city for the franchise.

"We can make sure that CalAm has certain customer service standards, that any street repairs will be made, and that any lowpressure issues will be addressed," Watkins said.

Prior to Cal-Am, Village Water Company had served the city through a 50-year public franchise awarded in 1962 by Ventura County.

In the early 1970s, Village Water was sold to Cal-Am, according to a city staff report. The 1962 public franchise agreement remained in effect.

In 2002, talk of a merger began between Cal-Am and a German-based corporation called RWE Aktiengesellschaft.

When the merger took place in 2003, RWE became the state's fourth-largest private water provider, with customers throughout California.

Along with other cities, Thousand Oaks was concerned that a foreign owner, burdened with debt as a result of the merger and located far away, would allow service to decline and charge higher fees.

In Thousand Oaks, Cal-Am's rates were about 33 percent higher than rates being charged by the city's two other water providers, the privately owned California Water Service and the city-owned service.

The city was unsuccessful in blocking the merger during public hearings before the Public Utilities Commission in Sacramento but was successful in obtaining a rate decrease.

In 2004, Cal-Am agreed to a rate cut of about 6.3 percent that took effect in January 2005. Additional, but smaller, rate decreases were approved for this year and in 2007.

The proposed franchise time frame of 15 years is shorter than usual, Watkins said, to allow the city to reevaluate Cal-Am service sooner rather than later.

"Water service is becoming more volatile," Watkins said. "We want to ensure that our citizens get the best service they can."