LANCASTER, Calif. – The Southern California city that helped turn a local water rates protest into a statewide grassroots coalition, is raising the stakes by hosting a conference promoting legislative action to reform the California Public Utilities Commission.

On the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 16, the first California Summit on Water Rates Reform, planned and organized by the nonpartisan California Coalition to End Water Rates Abuse, will convene in the Lancaster City Council Chambers.

The summit will bring together members of the far-flung coalition whose common mission is permanent statewide relief from what they insist are unreasonable, unaffordable, excessive and unfair prices imposed by giant monopoly investor-owned water utilities.

The five-month-old coalition now includes active partners throughout California, collectively advocating for more than 1.5 million people.

Coalition spokeswoman Lauren Karnstedt said the 1:15 to 3:30 p.m. summit program will provide factual and heretofore little known evidence of systemic CPUC failure to protect the rights of residential ratepayers while enabling regulated monopolies to charge prices three to five times higher than those paid by customers of publicly-owned water utilities.

Karnstedt said presentations will address specific realistic solutions to both existing and developing problems in CPUC regulation of investor-owned water utilities.

She added, “Of primary interest should be restoring CPUC recognition and acceptance of local elected leadership involvement in ratemaking cases. Cities should not be forced to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars from general funds to have any chance of advocating for fair and reasonable treatment of their citizens.”

The invitation list for the summit includes elected officials and managers of cities and counties served by CPUC-regulated water companies, as well as legislators, candidates for governor and individual community leaders and organizations.

Also invited are the five appointed members of the commission board.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Perris, who spearheaded unanimous city council adoption of a resolution supporting the statewide reform efforts, arranged for availability of the city facilities to the coalition.

For further information and to RSVP on or before Feb. 14 email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

More information is available at https://www.waterratescoalition.com or https://sjwfacts.weebly.com/.