DC Water will issue a one-time rebate to customers in the form of a credit on their monthly bill. Some customers will see the credit in January, though due to different billing cycles and account statuses, some customers may see the one-time credit as late as April. The average household rebate will be slightly more than $9.00.

“Our customers trust us to spend their money wisely,” said General Manager George S. Hawkins. “We take that stewardship responsibility very seriously. This past year, our teams did the job with a little less than we anticipated, and we feel the right thing to do is to give some of that back to our customers, while also offsetting a little of the upcoming rate increases.”

The Authority’s Board of Directors approved a customer rebate with a total of $4.2 million to be paid on active accounts for billed usage during FY 2012. Customers will be refunded $0.10 per Ccf and $1 per ERU. If a customer’s rebate exceeds the bill, the remainder of the credit will be applied to the next bill. Those who participate in the Customer Assistance Program will be credited based on their billed consumption that is not covered by the CAP program. For more detailed information, please visit dcwater.com/rebate.

DC Water relies on customer bill payments to fund its operations and capital projects. Each year, management takes a long-term look in developing a proposed budget and a rate structure to support that budget. Through exceptional management and sound financial planning, DC Water expected to finish Fiscal Year 2012 (which ended September 30, 2012) with a surplus.

For the remainder of the anticipated surplus identified in July, DC Water’s Board took the following steps to benefit all DC Water customers:

• DC Water’s Board of Directors approved allocating a portion to our Rate Stabilization Fund, which helps underwrite the rates for Fiscal Year 2013, to keep the customer rate increase as low as possible. ($5.5 million)
• DC Water’s Board of Directors approved allocating a portion to pay-as-you-go financing, saving on the interest cost of future capital projects. Customers benefit when we pay less in interest. ($5 million)
• DC Water is obligated to repay wholesale customers for their overpayment in 2012. ($5.8 million)