Following a public hearing to discuss an application put forth by Aqua Texas for a System Improvement Charge to increase water and wastewater rates, the Woodcreek City Council voted 50 to deny the application. The application is one of two rate proposals from Aqua Texas that are in front of the city.
The public hearing was held at the Oldham- Cummings VFW Post #6441 in Wimberley on November 17. Conducting the hearing were Woodcreek City Attorney Stanley Springerley; Woodcreek Special Counsel Lauren Ice with the law firm Perales, Allmon & Ice, P.C.; Woodcreek Mayor Jeff Rasco; Aqua Texas State Controller Troy Regineili, Aqua Texas Area Manager Benton Cripps, and Aqua Texas Environmental Compliance Manager Scot Foltz.
City Attorney Stanley Springerley opened the hearing with remarks about Woodcreek’s response strategy to Aqua Texas’ SIC request. “The city chose to suspend the SIC rate request for a period – to not approve or immediately deny the application – in order to gather more information, perform due diligence and to look at the merits of the request. As a small city, Woodcreek didn’t have experts on staff to examine the complicated issues involved, so it was important for the city to take its time and not rush into making a decision.”
Lauren Ice, an attorney with the law firm Perales, Allmon & Ice, P.C., who practices environmental and ad- ministrative law, told listeners that she was also representing the Watershed Association in addition to the City of Woodcreek and Hays County and that the city was not paying her for her time. “This is something that the Watershed Association is paying for at the moment.”
She explained that two applications from Aqua are pending before the City of Woodcreek, a System Improvement Charge, or SIC, and a Comprehensive Rate Change.
Ice provided background with, “Our Texas Water code acknowledges that investor- owned utilities like Aqua Texas are by definition, a monopoly in the areas where they serve because they’re the only utility that’s doing that type of business inside the area where they serve customers. The typical forces of competition that help regulate rates and quality of service don’t apply.”
“Entities like the Public Utility Commission and the city assess Aqua’s requests to assure that rates for operations and services are just and reasonable and to make sure that the utility furnishes services and facilities that are safe, adequate, efficient and reasonable,” she said.
“The rates that Aqua are allowed to charge are designed so that the utility can recover the revenue that’s necessary to cover its cost of service,” Ice continued. “They can add to that a modest return on their investment that they make on capital projects in their community. It sounds really simple, but it’s actually very, very complicated as to how those rates are set.”
Ice provided a quick history. “In April, 2022, Aqua filed an application requesting a SIC for its water and sewer rates, seeking to recover several million dollars from all of its customers around the state. The case went before the Public Utility Commission and the parties ultimately settled. It was not an outcome from a judge, but there was a settlement. What resulted was an increase to customer bills: an $11.26 SIC charge for water and a $4.94 SIC charge for sewer. That charge is now on top of the current base rate, regardless of how much water a household uses. As a part of that decision, Aqua was required to file for a Comprehensive Rate Case within two years,” she said.
In 2023, Aqua applied for another SIC, asking to recover capital improvement costs that they had invested between January 2022 and July 2023. It was denied. In February of 2025, Aqua was ordered to reimburse, refund or credit customers. Customers would have seen a credit on their bill in 2025.
As required by the 2022 PUC settlement, Aqua has now applied to the PUC for a Comprehensive Rate Change.
“The Comprehensive Rate Change application will change rates for the city of Woodcreek and for every retail customer in Texas. Aqua is seeking to consolidate all customers to pay one sewer rate and one water rate, which means people inside the city limits of Woodcreek would pay the same rate as those outside the city,” Ice said.
The city must accept or deny the SIC application. If the city denies the rate increase, “Aqua may appeal that into the Comprehensive Rate Change case currently before the PUC,” she said.
The impact of the Comprehensive Rate Change “is really complicated,” she said, “because the overall change is going to lower the base rate, but it is going to add a change to the volumetric rate.”
After reviewing the SIC application and the Comprehensive Rate Change application pending before the PUC and much of the supporting documentation, Ice told listeners, “my recommendation is that the city deny the SIC rate change with the understanding that this will likely get consolidated with the larger Comprehensive Rate Change case that’s pending. It’s an opportunity for the city to continue to ask questions of Aqua Texas and to continue to examine the information.”
Ice asked that public comment be focused on two things: Are the rates you pay to Aqua just and reasonable and are the services you receive from Aqua reliable, safe and adequate? Is service good? Is your water quality consistently good? If you have problems, does Aqua address your concerns in a timely, full and complete manner?
Following Ice’s remarks, area manager for Aqua of Central Texas, Ben Cripps addressed the meeting. “We appreciate the opportunity to speak with you tonight about our rate case, what it means, why it’s necessary and why it’s ultimately the next step forward for this community.”
Cripps explained the Comprehensive Rate Change application is a formal, regulated process. “The PUC reviews our costs, operations and investments to determine rates that are fair and reasonable for both the customer and Aqua Texas. In short, it ensures that the rates you pay accurately reflect the real cost of developing water and wastewater service, and that we can continue investing in the system to make that possible.”
“Over the past 20 years, Aqua has invested nearly $17 million right here in Woodcreek, an amount that equals roughly $20,000 per customer. Those investments include backup generators to keep water flowing during power outages, major wastewater upgrades to help protect the environment and advanced metering technology that improves billing accuracy and helps us detect leaks and better conserve water. These improvements have played a critical role in keeping the systems resilient and operational, especially through the years of severe drought that this region has endured,” Cripps continued.
Saying that the level of investment represented a “significant commitment by Aqua,” Cripps said that for many years, Aqua Texas used a regional rate structure so that the full cost of the improvements didn’t fall solely on Woodcreek. Instead, he said, “the costs have been shared across Central Texas, helping balance out the affordability with the need for continued investment.”
“This is partly the reason why we are proposing to move the statewide rate structure to better spread the cost, and that by doing so, it would allow Aqua Texas to continue investing robustly in communities across the state,” he said. He also told listeners that Aqua Texas “spent $132M across Texas last year, spreading the cost across a large number of customers.”
Cripps said that the company has been focused on becoming more responsive, transparent and connected to the communities they serve.
In closing, Cripps said, “the rate case represents a continuation of the commitment we have with all of you here today by earning a fair return on the investment we’ve already made. Aqua Texas will continue to improve infrastructure, enhance drought resiliency and ensure safe and dependable service for years to come. We’re proud of the progress that we’ve made here in Woodcreek, and we’re grateful for the partnership.”
Following Cripps remarks, approximately a dozen public comments were submitted in writing to Mayor Rasco, who read them aloud.
After closing comments from Springerley, the City Council entered into Executive Session to discuss the public hearing in private. After returning, they voted 5-0 to deny the SIC application.
