California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 3200
San Francisco, CA 94102
Re: Advisory Letter #554
Dear CPUC Commissioners:
Our small mountain community of Strawberry, located in Tuolumne County has been served by Del Oro Water Company since 2006. Over that time, our water rates have increased very significantly and will soar further if its latest proposed increase per Advisory Letter #554 is approved.
Most of our homeowners use their cabins seasonally (mainly in the summer and winter), so we ran a scenario assuming a family of four uses their property for one week, taking showers only three times per person during that week, along with normal water usage otherwise. The total cost for water during that week will increase from $381 to $442. If the family stays for a full month, the cost increases from $450 to $571.
Rate increases under Del Oro since 2007 are startling:
- Usage rates were $3.79/ccf after DOWC’s first rate case, proposed to increase to $21.30—an increase of 562%;
- Meter rates have increased from $35.09/month to a proposed $210—a sixfold increase;
- Standby rates have increased from zero under the previous water supplier to a proposed $204/month.
This is a classic example of a small utility company taking full advantage of its monopoly status to jam huge cost increases on its relatively powerless customers. In addition, our association’s efforts to encourage representatives of Del Oro to attend one of our annual meetings have been completely ignored. The company knows it would face tough questions and, as a result, does not answer phone calls, does not respond to letters, and does not even answer questions submitted in writing. They have not attended one of our meetings in at least the past ten years.
We urge you to reject the latest proposed rate increases, encourage DOWC to regularly engage with its customers, and send a strong message that double digit increases on larger and larger cost bases cannot continue unabated.
We have attached the names, addresses, and signatures of all attendees of our annual homeowners meeting held July 4, 2026 in Strawberry, all of whom support the rejection of this confiscatory rate increase.
Sincerely,
Don Barton
President
Strawberry Property Owners Association
www.strawberrypropertyowners.org
c: Del Oro Water Company