A majority of residential Magnolia Water customers already pay the highest rate in the state for sewer service and one of the highest for water.
The for-profit utility company has successfully applied to the Louisiana Public Service Commission for an increase in rates every year it has operated in Lafayette Parish, where it has more than 140 neighborhood and business sewer systems and more than a dozen water districts, and now it wants to raise them even more.
The current highest rate for sewer is a flat $69 a month — which 83% of Magnolia Water customers pay — and Magnolia now aims to raise it to $76 this year. This increase, along with water rate hikes, would boost the utility company’s yearly revenue by $5 million, according to Magnolia’s audit report to the PSC…