ELKINS – Elkins City Council accepted the recommendation of the Elkins Water Board to discontinue management and operation of the Whitmer Water System during a special meeting Tuesday night, ending the city’s compliance with a West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) order.

After an almost hour-long executive session, the eight council members in attendance all voted to approve a motion to “discontinue complying with the State of West Virginia Public Service Commission’s order… to manage and operate the Whitmer Water System.”

According to a letter sent to council and Mayor Jerry Marco by Wes Lambert, the Elkins Public Water System Chief Operator and Manager, the Elkins Water Board voted unanimously to recommend the city council take such action “until such a time that the (PSC or the State) can provide sufficient funds needed to operate and maintain that system without further cost to the City of Elkins water customers…”

The timeline for the termination of services to the Whitmer utility will be determined after information is received from the West Virginia State Health Department.

In 2023, Elkins was ordered by the PSC to take over the distressed Whitmer water utilities, a decision that, Marco said, costs the city around $6,000 a month. While the City of Elkins operates the Whitmer water utility, it does not own it.

The Whitmer utility has approximately 94 customers, City Attorney Geraldine Roberts said, and Elkins is having to pay the difference between what it costs every month to operate the Whitmer water plant and how much money is collected from Whitmer customers. Lambert said it takes 144 Elkins customers, at a minimum bill, to fund the difference.

Roberts said Elkins has tried to find every possible way of funding the operation of the Whitmer water plant, including reaching out to the state Water Development Authority. However, she said the Authority only receives $5 million a year, and the next two fiscal years of that funding have already been committed to different projects in the state.

“We need people to know about this,” Roberts said during the council’s March 6 meeting. “It’s important to know that the City of Elkins is being asked to do something that was never going to be funded any other way but on the back of the City of Elkins.”

When asked by Third Ward Council Member Christopher Lowther, during the March 6 meeting, as to how long the city can operate at a $6,000 a month loss, Elkins City Treasurer Tracy Judy said officials would end up having to ask for another water rate increase. 

Roberts and Lambert also explained during that meeting that the rate increase would not only affect the water costs for Elkins and Whitmer customers, but also for Leadsville and Midland customers, as those utilities are wholesale customers of Elkins.

During the council’s March 20 meeting, Marco said that, while he had been in Charleston testifying on several pieces of legislation, he asked PSC officials if it was a violation for Elkins to use enterprise funding for a property they don’t own outside of city limits.

“I was told by the Chair (of the PSC) that we probably shouldn’t be using that, and I said, ‘However, it’s illegal to use general funding, so what am I supposed to do?'” Marco said. “And she looked at their attorney and the attorney went, ‘I don’t know.'”

Marco stated that, despite asking a lot of questions of PSC officials, he didn’t feel like he got a lot of answers from that initial meeting. The mayor said he also asked what the penalty would be if the city refused the order, but he noted it is still unclear what the penalty actually is.

“I was told by their attorney that they have authority,” Marco said. “I said, ‘Okay, can you please explain what your authority is?’ and I really didn’t get an answer, but I was told, ‘Well, we’ve never really been in this situation before,’ and, this may alarm you guys, but I said, ‘You know what, sometimes I like to be a pioneer and be the first one, so we may see how this works out.'”

Marco said that, after his testimony, the PSC requested a meeting on March 19, which Marco called “productive” and “great.” He said the PSC admitted that the current law that involves distressed utilities, as it stands, is flawed and is willing to work with others to change parts of the law.