Customer reviews | Paul Little: I’m shocked! Shocked! – Pasadena now

None of us should be surprised that our utility costs are increasing. We don’t have many options other than to pay.

Costs for water, sewer, solid waste and electricity services are increasing. Not at all unexpected. Many factors contribute to these increases: the cost of water that the Metropolitan Water District charges Pasadena (more than half of our water comes from the MWD), the cost of electricity, and labor costs and materials.

It remains to be seen what impact environmental management will have on utility costs, but the fact remains that we must do something to combat climate change if we want our great-grandchildren to inhabit a world livable.

For Pasadena, aging infrastructure that requires maintenance or replacement is a major contributor to rising prices. Pasadena is (by California standards) a relatively old city. We also have our own utility company. The pipes that carry water, the wires that transmit electricity, the sewer pipes are all aging. The city must do something. (We really need to keep the systems running or repair water pipes, power transformers, etc. when they fail? In my opinion, cost and reliability require us to keep the system up and running and as up to date as possible. It’s much more expensive to fix a failure somewhere in the system than to prevent it.)

We will all see additional costs in our bills very soon. In many cases, businesses will be hit harder (sometimes much harder) than residents.

The Pasadena City Council recently passed increases for water (about $14 per month per household on average, or 13%). Sewer rates will double on average after Council approved an increase. (But before you set your hair on fire, that would bring the cost from an average of $4.55 per month per household to $11.05. For comparison, Los Angeles currently charges $75 per household and will increase sewer rates to $92 in October and to $155 in October 2025.)

Commercial customers are also seeing increases, some significantly higher.

We can’t control the cost of water, electricity, sewer, or waste, but we can take advantage of opportunities to save money and conserve (often FREE stuff!).

Such as:

A few years ago I received two free rainwater collection barrels from PWP. I had a third two years ago. The rain collected in these barrels waters my herb garden all summer and deeply waters my trees every August/September. It’s only a few hundred gallons a year, but it’s something.

In our office, we were able to have LED lighting installed, again FREE of charge as part of the WEDIP (Water and Energy Direct Install Program). Our old, inefficient fluorescent lights have been removed and replaced with efficient LED lights that are more efficient and easier on the eyes. All of this cost the Pasadena Chamber nothing.

Honestly, I had heard about the program, but never thought about taking advantage of it until a PWP customer representative reminded me of the opportunity. A contractor came to assess our property, made some suggestions and three weeks later we have new ceiling lights. If you have a business and would like to be evaluated for participation in the WEDIP program, visit www.pepweb.com/business, get evaluated and see if you qualify.

For residents, there are also a host of programs to help you make your home more energy and water efficient. The Home Improvement Program, for example, offers expert assessment and personalized installations to help households save water and electricity.

Business owners can also contribute to our green energy future by completing a survey on small business awareness and needs. The survey is organized by the City of Pasadena Economic Development Department. Take the 5-minute survey on:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUkvwYrSmFdvyYsZyuBj_8-cOyDU0m6wEdSEOyQAaVYIKHpg/viewform.

Of course, the real irony is that the more we save on water and electricity (and gas for that matter), the more the product will cost us per unit. These infrastructure costs (the cables, the pipes, the processing plants and everything needed to maintain them) will not go away.

Paul Little is president and CEO of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and Civic Association. He served on the Pasadena City Council representing District 2 from 1995 to 2007 and was a board member of the LA to Pasadena Metro Construction Authority which built the (Blue, Gold, A) train to Pasadena. If he’s not working, traveling, visiting his kids (and grandson), reading a mystery novel, newspaper, or magazine on his porch, you can probably find him taking a train to walk her big white dog Cotton around Pasadena.