BEFORE THE ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION

Transcription

1 COMMISSIONERS DOUG LITTLE, Chairman BOB STUMP TOM FORESE BOB BURNS ANDY TOBIN BEFORE THE ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF EPCOR WATER ARIZONA INC. FOR A DETERMINATION OF THE CURRENT FAIR VALUE OF ITS UTILITY PLANT AND PROPERTY AND FOR CHANGES IN ITS RATES AND CHARGES BASED THEREON FOR UTILITY SERVICE BY ITS AGUA FRIA WASTEWATER, ANTHEM WASTEWATER, SUN CITY WASTEWATER, SUN CITY WEST WASTEWATER, AND MOHAVE WASTEWATER DISTRICTS AND FOR CONSIDERATION OF CONSOLIDATION AND DE-CONSOLIDATION PROPOSALS DOCKET NO: WS-00A-- DIRECT TESTIMONY OF JEFFREY W. STUCK ON BEHALF OF EPCOR WATER ARIZONA INC. APRIL, 0

2 Docket No. WS-00A-- Page ii 0 DIRECT TESTIMONY OF JEFFREY W. STUCK ON BEHALF OF EPCOR WATER ARIZONA INC. APRIL, 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY... iii I. INTRODUCTION AND QUALIFICATIONS... II. PURPOSE OF TESTIMONY... III. MOHAVE WASTEWATER DISTRICT... IV. ANTHEM WASTEWATER DISTRICT...

3 Docket No. WS-00A-- Page iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Jeffrey W. Stuck describes the wastewater service areas and facilities for two of the five districts that are included in this application: Anthem Wastewater and Mohave Wastewater. Mr. Stuck describes the facilities in each district and the communities that comprise each of the districts. Mr. Stuck also describes the current agreement with the City of Phoenix in the Anthem Wastewater District..

4 Docket No. WS-00A Page of I. INTRODUCTION AND QUALIFICATIONS Q. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME, BUSINESS ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER. A. My name is Jeffrey W. Stuck. My business address is N. Cattletrack Road, Scottsdale, Arizona, and my business phone is --. Q. IN WHAT CAPACITY AND BY WHOM ARE YOU EMPLOYED? A. I am employed by EPCOR Water USA ( EWUS ) as Director of Operations for the Eastern Division. Q. PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES FOR THE COMPANY. A. My primary responsibilities are for water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, and ensuring safe and reliable service for EPCOR Water Arizona Inc. ( EWAZ or Company ), which includes the following districts: Mohave Water, Mohave Wastewater, Havasu Water, Paradise Valley Water, Anthem Water, and Anthem Wastewater. I also oversee the operations of Chaparral City Water Company and North Mohave Valley Water Company. On March 0, 0, the Arizona Corporation Commission ( ACC ) approved the purchase of the Willow Valley Water Company by EWAZ and upon completion of the transfer, I will oversee the operations of that district as well. Q. PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION. A. I hold a Bachelor of Science Degree from Arizona State University. I have worked in the water industry for over years. I began my career working at the Arizona Department of Water Resources where my duties included water rights investigations associated with the Little Colorado River Adjudication. In,

5 Docket No. WS-00A-- 0 Page of I began working for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in the Safe Drinking Water Program. Over the next years, I held many positions in the ADEQ Safe Drinking Water Program with the last being the Safe Drinking Water Program Manager. In 00, I joined EWUS, then Arizona American Water, as the Western Region Environmental Director. Since 00, I have been employed as the Eastern Division Operations Director with responsibilities including overseeing water and wastewater operations in the communities of Paradise Valley, Anthem, Bullhead City, and Lake Havasu. In 0, my responsibilities were expanded to include Chaparral City Water Company, which provides service in and around Fountain Hills, AZ and again expanded in 0 to include the North Mohave Water System. Upon completion of the purchase of the Willow Valley Water Company system, my responsibilities will be expanded to include that district in the Mohave County area as well. Q. HAVE YOU PREVIOUSLY TESTIFIED BEFORE THIS COMMISSION? A. Yes. 0 II. PURPOSE OF TESTIMONY Q. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR TESTIMONY IN THIS CASE? A. The purpose of my testimony in this proceeding is to describe the service areas and facilities for two of the districts that are included in this case: Anthem Wastewater and Mohave Wastewater. III. MOHAVE WASTEWATER DISTRICT Q. PLEASE DESCRIBE THE MOHAVE WASTEWATER DISTRICT. A. The Mohave Wastewater System is comprised of two distinct service areas located in the Mohave Valley and at the Arizona Gateway development. The Mohave Valley portion of the system is located in the community of Fort Mohave.

6 Docket No. WS-00A Page of The Fort Mohave service area is approximately. square miles and there are approximately,00 customers in this portion of the Mohave Wastewater service territory. The Fort Mohave area is served by our Wishing Well Water Reclamation Facility ( Wishing Well ), a 00,000 gallon per day ( gpd ) extended aeration wastewater treatment plant located south of Bullhead City. The treatment process consists of headworks, which include a grit basin and fine screen, Parshall flume meter, aeration and anoxic basin with nitrification and denitrification capability, secondary clarifiers, multi-media filters, chlorine contact basin, clear well with pump station, sludge holding tank and sludge dewatering unit. The effluent from this wastewater treatment plant is delivered and sold offsite to the Buena Vista Homeowners Association for beneficial reuse in manmade lakes at the Lakes at Los Lagos subdivision. The Arizona Gateway Treatment Plant ( Gateway Plant ) is located at the intersection of Highway and Interstate 0 and is approximately miles north of Lake Havasu City. This service area is approximately 0. square-miles and there are commercial customers in this portion of the Mohave Wastewater service territory. The Gateway Plant is an underground,000 gpd extended aeration plant that serves a collection system for a commercial development block that includes a truck stop, fast-food chains, a gas station, storage buildings, and other structures. Influent enters into a flow-equalization basin, and is treated in two separate train aeration reactors with a sludge holding tank. The effluent is then disinfected using chlorination/de-chlorination and disposed into an evaporation pond located within the compound of the treatment plant site. The investment for the Gateway Plant was originally advanced by the developer.

7 Docket No. WS-00A Page of IV. ANTHEM WASTEWATER DISTRICT Q. PLEASE DESCRIBE THE COMPANY S WASTEWATER SERVICE IN ANTHEM. A. In the Anthem community, the Company provides wastewater collection and treatment service for approximately,000 customers. The Anthem system is an integrated water/wastewater system with both water and wastewater treatment at a combined water campus located in the Anthem community. Q. PLEASE DESCRIBE THE ANTHEM WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT AND COLLECTION SYSTEM. A. The Anthem Wastewater Treatment Plant ( Anthem WWTP ) is an activated sludge, tertiary-treatment plant (membrane bioreactor) with ultraviolet disinfection and a chlorine contact chamber that treats the wastewater from the Anthem community. The Anthem Wastewater District covers approximately square miles in land area and includes a wastewater collection system with lift stations. There are approximately 00 miles of sewer mains, two miles of force mains, manholes and cleanouts within the district. The Anthem WWTP removes organic and suspended material from the waste stream to meet ADEQ requirements for unrestricted use. Q PLEASE DESCRIBE THE ANTHEM RECLAIMED WATER SYSTEM. A. The Anthem Reclaimed Water System delivers recycled water that meets A+ effluent quality standards and is disinfected before being used for irrigation in the local community or is recharged into the groundwater aquifer. The Anthem Reclaimed Water System consists of a one million gallon retention pond located at the Anthem Water Campus, a series of four high service pumps, a reclaimed water distribution system, a groundwater recharge facility and an AZPDES discharge

8 Docket No. WS-00A Page of point to an adjacent wash. All reclaimed uses are permitted by the requisite Arizona regulatory authorities. Q. PLEASE DESCRIBE THE CONNECTION WITH THE CITY OF PHOENIX. A. The area of Anthem on the west side of Interstate ( I- ) is located within the city boundaries of the City of Phoenix ( City ). Water and wastewater services to that area are provided by the City. The City s wastewater collection system collects all of the wastewater flows west of I- and delivers those flows to the EPCOR wastewater collection system at an alignment with Opportunity Way and I-. These flows are measured with a Parshall flume that is located at the connection point between the two wastewater collection systems. The average monthly flows received from the City of Phoenix are approximately,,000 gallons with monthly maximum flows of approximately,0,000 gallons. The City of Phoenix s wastewater from its collection system in this area flows through the EPCOR collection system to the wastewater plant at the Water Campus where it is treated. Q. HAVE THE COMPANY AND THE CITY OF PHOENIX AMENDED THEIR ORIGINAL WHOLESALE WATER/WASTEWATER TREATMENT AGREEMENT? A. Yes. On September 0, 0, the City of Phoenix and EPCOR entered into a Supplement Two to the Anthem Wholesale Water /Wastewater Service Agreement between the City of Phoenix and EPCOR Water Arizona Inc. ( Supplement Two ). The portion of Supplement Two that relates to the wholesale wastewater service requires the Company, in its next rate filing, to request a change in the basis of billing that would convert the present billing from a water usage basis to a

9 Docket No. WS-00A-- Page of measured flow of their wastewater flume at the delivery point. The cost of service study performed by Ms. Connie Heppenstall for this proceeding incorporates this change in billing basis from a water-usage basis to a cost per thousand gallon of wastewater flume. Q. DOES THIS CONCLUDE YOUR DIRECT TESTIMONY? A. Yes.