Texas Water Agency Appeals Groundwater Fee Ruling for Utilities

摘要

The San Jacinto River Authority will ask the Fifth Circuit to step in and stop a challenge by two private utilities to its groundwater fees after they got a green light from a Houston federal judge. The Aug. 14 decision by Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore rejected the argument that the agency's regulator status shields it from antitrust claims over regulations requiring high-volume consumers to reduce their usage or face huge fines, as well as related contracts giving "safe harbor" to utilities that pay certain fees. The lawsuit targets the SJRA's groundwater reduction plan, the contracts, and a web of arrangements with neighboring water authorities that were allegedly aimed at promoting groundwater conservation by increasing its cost relative to surface water, which has traditionally been more expensive in the Houston area.