HEBRON — The price of water may be going up for customers of the Hebron Water Co.

The company is requesting an overall 22.51 percent rate increase – the first increase in 17 years — to raise an additional $28,593 to cover operational costs, according to the application to the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

A public hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 1, in the Hebron Fire Station on Burham Road.

The request includes a 3.91 percent rate increase for residential; 29.73 percent increase for commercial; 1.8 percent increase for government; and 29.64 percent increase for public fire protection.

The last increase was on March 1, 1999.

Harry Lanphear, administrative director for the Maine Public Utilities Commission, said if 15 percent of the customers file petitions within 30 days of the hearing with the Hebron Water Co. trustees and the Maine Public Utilities Commission opposing the rate increase, the PUC will suspend the process and begin an investigation into the merits of the request.

There are 29 customers of the water company, he said. The largest is Hebron Academy. At least four customers will have to petition for a review, Lanphear said.

He said it is not at all unusual for a water district, especially smaller ones like Hebron, to go for 17 years without a request for a rate increase.

Hebron’s public drinking water is from Halls Pond, off Halls Pond Road, in Paris. According to the company’s Annual Drinking Water Quality Report, the water is filtered, receives a pH adjustment using sodium bicarbonate, is treated with hypo-chlorination to remove potential microbiological contaminants, and orthophosphate for corrosion control.

The annual reports are a requirement of the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, and are designed to inform customers of the quality of water and services the district delivers.

The water company was owned for years by Hebron Academy. In 1995, it came under the scrutiny of the Environmental Protection Agency which issued an administrative order to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

To do so, the local water company had to build a water filtration plant by September 1998. The cost was upward of $1 million. The creation of the nonprofit, independent utility company was considered the only way to pay for the system.

At the time, it was reported that Hebron Academy had sought to resolve the problem, but because it was not a nonprofit organization, it could not apply for funding from federal grants and loans.

The Hebron Water Co. went from a for-profit company, to a nonprofit, by an act of the Maine Legislature in 1997. Until then, the Hebron Community Baptist Church, the elementary school, and the town, which had been receiving free service, began to be charged for water.

In 1998, the cost of water soared dramatically after the company’s first rate increase was approved by the PUC. For example, Hebron Academy’s water bill went from $6,000 to $77,000 annually. A 22.51 percent increase would bring the academy’s share to $94,333 annually.

Lanphear said customers were notified of the most recent rate increase request, and of the upcoming public hearing, at the end of January.

Lanphear said the PUC will follow up to ensure all customers were properly notified, and that the hearing was held.

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