McDowell County PSD seeks across-the-board water rate increases, PSC case 25-0847-PWD-19A

McDowell County Public Service District has formally filed an application with the West Virginia Public Service Commission seeking an increase in water rates for customers served by the district, the filing appearing as a PSC Tariff Form No. 10 notice under PSC case 25-0847-PWD-19A, with the filing listed March 7, 2026. The public notice text available to this newsroom ends with a truncated citation reading 25-0847-PWD-1, and the Tariff Form No. 10 provided no proposed dollar amounts, percentages, or an effective date for any change.

The notice filed by the PSD contains no tariff sheets or cost-of-service exhibits in the material obtained here: the specific new rates by customer class, whether the proposal is truly across-the-board for all meter sizes and both residential and commercial customers, any proposed effective date or phase-in schedule, and any bill-sample comparisons are absent from the published notice. The filing does not identify a PSD contact person in the public excerpt, and the PSC docket history and procedural schedule for public comment and hearings are not present in the Tariff Form No. 10 notice on file with this report.

Background bond and legal language linked to the district, extracted from bond legislation and a Letter of Conditions dated June 19, 2003, frames the PSD’s powers and potential constraints. The bond document defines the issuer: "Issuer, Borrower or District means McDowell County Public Service District, a public service district, a public corporation and a political subdivision of the State of West. Virginia, in McDowell County, West Virginia, and includes the Governing Body." The bond materials also define the Letter of Conditions precisely as "the Letter of Conditions of the Purchaser dated June 19, 2003, and all amendments thereto, if any."

Those same bond provisions include operational covenants that could affect customers and rate-setting. The legislation states: "The Issuer may require any applicant for any service by the System to deposit a reasonable and equitable amount to insure payment of all charges for the services rendered by the System, which deposit shall be handled and disposed of under the applicable rules and regulations of the Public Service Commission of West Virginia." The document further provides: "The Issuer, to the extent permitted by law, will not accept payment of any water bill from a customer served with water and sewer services by the Issuer without payment at the same time of a sewer bill owed by such customer for the same premises." It also warns of creditor remedies: "Upon application by the Purchaser, such court may, upon proof of such default, appoint a receiver for the affairs of the Issuer and the System. The receiver so appointed shall administer the System on behalf of the Issuer, shall exercise all the rights and powers of the Issuer with respect to the System, shall proceed under the direction of the court to obtain authorization to increase rates and charges of the System, and shall have the power to collect and receive all revenues and apply the same in such manner as the court may direct; provided that, all rights and remedies of the Holders of the Prior Bonds shall be on a parity with the Series 2008 A Bonds."

Key documents remain to be obtained to explain why the PSD has sought higher water rates and what customers will pay: the full PSC docket for Case No. 25-0847-PWD-19A including the complete Tariff Form No. 10, the PSD’s filed tariff sheets and supporting testimony, governing board minutes authorizing the filing, and bond documents related to the Series 2008 A Bonds and any Prior Bonds. The PSC procedural schedule will establish intervention and public comment deadlines and any hearing dates; absent those docket items, the scope and timing of the proposed increase cannot be assessed. The bond covenants quoted above indicate potential collection policies and creditor remedies that could figure into the commission’s review of the PSD’s rate request.