The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority would hike rates nearly 14 percent for average residential customers under a recommendation from an administrative law judge.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is expected to vote on the recommendation during its regularly monthly meeting Thursday, according to Robert Weimar, PWSA’s executive director.

A PUC spokesman would not confirm the vote, saying he was prohibited from talking about the meeting agenda in advance.

PWSA is prohibited from raising rates until March 31 unless the commission approves an earlier date.

The authority, which provides water and sewer services to about 80,000 customers in Pittsburgh and surrounding communities, had sought an 16.7 percent increase for residential customers.

Paul Leger, who chairs the PWSA board, noted that rates have increased every year for the past several years.

“There’s one day a month when I hate the PWSA. It’s when I get my bill,” Leger said. “I don’t want to charge any more money than we have to, but we have a system that hasn’t been touched for 30 years and we now (have) an intense capital plan, which we need to implement or this system is going to fall apart.

“In order to do that, we have to get the necessary funds to do it, and that involves rate increases. I do expect there will be continual rate increases.”

Under the recommendation, PWSA fees for average residential water and sewage customers using 3,000 gallons of water per month would increase from $63.62 to $72.49, or 13.9 percent. The fees are expected to bring in an additional $21 million in revenue per year and help fund PWSA’s operation and capital improvement plans.

The judge’s recommendation represents a settlement between PWSA and various objectors, including the state’s Office of Consumer Advocate, Office of Small Business Advocate and Pittsburgh United, a local coalition of community, labor, faith, and environmental organizations.

PWSA, which has a cooperative agreement with Pittsburgh to manage and operate the city-owned sewer and water system, has struggled for years to manage overwhelming debt, system breakdowns and dangerous lead levels in drinking water. Officials have blamed the problems on a reluctance by past city and PWSA officials to raise water and sewer rates, the authority’s only revenue source.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has said the authority would need up to $2 billion to fix all of its infrastructure problems.

PWSA officials in 2016 began taking steps to address the problems, including major capital improvement and a program designed to rid the city of all lead water lines. The board of directors approved a $158 million capital program for 2019, more than double the $70 million budgeted last year.

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bob at 412-765-2312, bbauder@tribweb.com or via Twitter @bobbauder.

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