Just applied for water at a new place in Eatonton.

The water is provided by Piedmont Water, a private company located in Atlanta.

They charge a mandatory deposit ranging from $50.00 to $150.00 depending on your personal credit and this is where it gets good. They pay ZERO interest on the deposit and they hold it until you terminate service. We all know they are holding this money in an interest bearing account. I was flabbergasted when they told me this.

Their minimum charge for 0 to 3000 gallons consumption is $34.00 a month. This makes the payback on a $5500.00 private well a 13 year proposition and who knows where I'll be in 13 years.

I called the GA Public Service Commission to see verify the legality of the mandatory deposit and much to my surprise Private ans Public water companies are not governed through the GA-PSC. Electricity, natural gas and phone of all things are governed under the GA-PSC. I was advised that water was only subject to local laws.

Who wants to start a private water company

td

Requiring a deposit doesn't surprise me.  Marietta Power & Water charged me close to $1k deposit for a business account for electricity.  They go by usage of previous tenants and it is like a month or two of what their bill was.

And they can charge you what ever they want.  I've seen developers give really reasonable rates on water until the last house is sold on the system.  They start increasing rates steeply at that time.

But I'll bet you a $5.00 bill the money is being held in an interest bearing account where you collect the interest.

I have no idea how many customers Piedmont Water has but they own systems statewide. Let's assume they have 15,000 customers with an average deposit of $75.00. They are collecting interest on $1,125,000.00 that doesn't belong to them. That's a sweet racket if you can get away with it..

td

Same scam in Cumming as well...

Douglas county has a private water company as well. I live in the country and have my own well and septic but those rascals decided they would start sending me a bill for "storm water management". When it rains at my house the water runs across the road into the next county and they have never cleaned out my drainage ditches or provided any service to me. I refuse to pay it as well as quite a few others in the rural areas. I wrote them a nice letter informing them that they were not a taxing authority as described in the state constitution so they had no legal grounds to try and impose a tax on me or send me a bill for services they weren't providing.

If Douglas county has a private water company I've never heard of it ( that's not saying they don't). Douglas County WSA has a stranglehold on the county. They even make you pump your septic tank every five years if you live in and joined after the dog river basin was established.  

 

Why can't something be done to have "private water" companies governed by the PSC..???

I'm all for private enterprise and less govt interference but I hate a monopoly.

Something needs to be done about this water racket??

td

DC WSA is a privately held company. You are correct, they have the county in their pocket.

Interest on $1,125,000 with current rates is not that much $$.  Even if they were to invest it in the market it is pretty minimal.  I would guess that the defaults and non-payment is probably close to the amount they make from interest if not more.

Some of the other co-ops make you pay a deposit and hold it for one or two years before they credit your account.

May very well be an escrow acct similar to Real Estate fees.

Sounds like the pawn shops of the utility world!

I'm kinda curious why you'd expect them to not collect interest on it?  I mean would you not do the exact same thing if you charged deposit....

It's not their money, it belongs to me and other customers. Ga Power and other legitimate utilities pay their customers interest on the money they are holding.

They call it a "security deposit" which it is not since they charge it regardless of your credit rating and they don't refund it once you've made timely payments for a prescribed length of time.

If you have shitty credit or a poor payment history then by all means charge a deposit otherwise it's an underhanded way to pad the books.

td

You would have a valid argument if someone with a single "pawn shop" had a monopoly in any given area.

There are dozens of places in Dublin to secure a loan ranging from small mom and pop lenders to nationwide megabanks.

td

($34/month x 3 neighbors) / $5500well cost = making money in 52 months
 

Ouch!!

 

LOL....oh man.  Then get water from someone else.  Simple as that if you don't like their business practices.

Otherwise if they are it...you want them to be regulated then?  More gov in our lifes....thought we were against that.....I get so confused anymore.

My choices are somewhat limited since they have what amounts to a monopoly.

Monopolies should be closely regulated.

Sometimes there are no practical alternatives especially where utilities are concerned.

Don't like the power bill then erect a wind turbine or solar panels...

Don't like the price of water or natural gas then drill your own well.

It just doesn't work like that not to mention electricity, gas and phone are already regulated.

Do I think McDonalds needs regulation? Hell, no cook your own burger or eat and Wendy's across the street.

td

Maybe things to have looked at before buying the property?

50 to 150 to save you 5500 for a well...


Consider it a hook up fee and move on.

Or dig a well and sell water to the neighbors!

Break the monopoly!

This

With the county in their pocket, they'll have a law passed forbidding it.

Do like the rest of us. Pay with your amex, then dispute the charges. They never reply to the inquiry and you get your money back.

Problem solved!

Fairly certain it would already be a violation of state health laws unless you set up a water treatment plant as well.  

I've never heard of any utility NOT charging some kind of security deposit before activating a customer's service, and I've never heard of that utility ever paying the customer interest on that deposit.  I've lived in a whole bunch of different neighborhoods, and every place I've ever lived, your security goes into escrow until such time as you either quit service, or you develop a payment history with that particular utility and they credit the security amount as a deposit into your account.  I'm not saying it doesn't happen - I've just never seen it.

Blue Ridge Mountain EMC

Be happy you don't have to buy your power from our power company, they require a NON REFUNDABLE deposit...
They wanted something like $200 to change the name on the account when I bought my place from my buddy.
Guess whose name is still on the bill...

It's been a long time since I had power with an EMC but I'm fairly certain some require to buy into the co-op before they will provide you with service.

As a member/owner you may also receive an occasional dividend and you should get a check when you terminate service. This check will be based on years as a member of the co-op as well as consumption.

You might want to reconsider leaving the service in your bud's name..???

BTW: I think my stepbrother who lives in Hiawassee is a lineman for Blue Ridge Mtn EMC.

td

BRMEMC has never paid a dividend check to any members, I am aware that other EMC's that do, even after you leave them.

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I would be willing to bet that the Water Company is NOT holding ANY deposits. The money they collect as a deposit is most likely going straight into the operating budget and when a customer leaves, the 'Deposit" minus the last billing is returned to the customer which is probably why they don't pay any interest because there is no interest since it went straight into the operations account.

As for drilling your own well and "selling" water to your neighbors, you will NOT be at break-even in 13 years much less 52 months. After you pay for your DNR Water Certification course, have all your DNR required water testing paid for to just open the well for use, pay for your daily testing for the first few years, then weekly testing after never having a positive test in those first few years, paying for all the additional equipment to distribute water to your neighbors, having a pump go bad because somebody has a pipe burst while they are out of town, it will end up costing you 10 times what the water company is asking! Plus drilling a single well to flow enough gallons per minute and pump and hold pressure for more then one home is no longer a $5500 proposition (unless you want high electric bills from a pump running all the time plus buying a new pump every few years from the constant running). For servicing anybody other then your own needs we are now talking about a stainless steel cased well also.

Plus all the nice headaches of when the neighbor calls or knocks on your door at 2AM asking why they don't have any water.

You really only have three choices, buy your water, private well, or no water.