by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Island residents should prepare to pay more for their water bills, as the Consolidated Commission on Utilities meet this evening to discuss their plans to upgrade the Guam Waterworks Authority's system over the next five years.

Tonight the CCU is discussing GWA's Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan, of which the centerpiece is to continue to meet the mandates of its stipulated order with the feds in place since 2003. The plan includes hundreds of millions of dollars worth of CIPs, including the repair and upgrade of GWA watertanks worth $120 million, bringing all the southern waste water plants to secondary treatment at an estimated cost of $130 million.

"We're going to have to borrow money and in order to borrow money we're going to need rate increases that are gradually implemented over time," said Simon Sanchez, CCU chairman.

Increases aren't anything new. Over the last nine years ratepayers have seen an estimated 80 percent increase in their water bills all of which have been pumped into the system to make much needed upgrades. Sanchez said, "The five-year rate plan that is projected to be requested by management tonight is from 2014 to 2018 is about a 67 percent increase. What does that mean? The typical residential customer right now is paying about $60 a month, so by 2018 the typical residential bill might be closer to $100 dollars. So it's a $40 increase but its spread out over five years, so the first request is about $10 a month for the typical residential customer."

According to Sanchez, it's a price tag unfortunately we'll all have to pay. "Nonetheless rate increases are difficult for everyone, but there's no other way to go to the borrowing market and borrow without showing them a rate plan that says we have enough money to pay back the loans," he said.

Sanchez adds this is part of a $1 billion to $1.5 billion upgrade of the GWA system, which they plan to do over the next 20 to 25 years. Overtime these upgrades will help reduce the cost of water from the agency. If the plan is approved by the CCU it heads to the Public Utilities Commission for their final disposition.