By WECT Staff | February 10, 2021 at 11:33 AM EST – Updated February 10 at 11:33 AM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) has decided to take nearly $2 million awarded in a settlement from a class action lawsuit and pay down debt on a loan from the Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund.
“The CFPUA Board also Wednesday appropriated settlement funds that CFPUA received in a class action lawsuit to pay down debt on a loan from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund … CFPUA recently received a settlement of $1,980,016 from an antitrust class action lawsuit related to liquid aluminum sulfate. CFPUA and other water utilities use aluminum sulfate, or alum, as part of the treatment process for raw surface water. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs claimed several companies hurt competition and violated antitrust, consumer protection, and other laws by fixing the price of alum, thereby causing purchasers to pay too much,” according to a press release from the utility provider.
By paying the outstanding debt on the loan, CFPUA says it will save ratepayers around $300,000 in interest.
CFPUA has also published proposed water and sewer system development fees for Fiscal Year 2021-22, that year starts July 1, 2021.
“The system development charge (SDC) is the fee that newly connecting customers pay to “buy in” to the water and sewer system. The proposal includes an increase in the water SDC from $1,920 to $2,120 and an increase in the sewer SDC from $2,070 to $2,180,” according to a press release. “CFPUA invites all interested parties to provide public comments by March 31.”
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