December 20, 2022
The Fox Chapel Authority (FCA) Board of Directors at the December 6th meeting, approved a 2.5% increase on all water usage, meter and authority rates effective January 1st, 2023. This will help offset recent rate increases by our water supplier and steadily declining residential water usage over the past decade. The increase is also necessary to adequately build reserves to fund essential capital projects such as installation of new smart meters with leak detection and replacing aging watermains within the distribution system.
The average FCA residential customer using 4300 gallons of water per month with a ⅝″ meter will see an increase of about $1.61 per month. FCA strives to keep its rates at least 20% below any of the commercial water companies. Water remains a great value when compared to other consumer purchases and is typically the lowest percentage utility cost per household, lower than gas, oil, telephone and electricity.
Planned water meter improvements beginnin in 2023 will help FCA monitor customers water usage patterns proactively, and notify customers when water is running continuously during a 24-hour period. This will help our customers keep their water usage cost low by avoiding wasted water through leakage.
FCA continues to strive to fulfill its public water supply duties of providing excellent water quality and customer service while balancing the need for capital improvements and controlling operating costs.