Adding insult to injury.

This was also printed in the Desert Dispatch
November 23, 2010
Rate increase approved for water company
By KAREN JONAS, staff writer
BARSTOW • The California Public Utility Commission approved a rate increase for Golden State Water Company customers on Friday that will affect Barstow customers starting the first week of December.

The average rate for users in Barstow will go up 12.7 percent, according to Rebecca Long, community customer service representative for GSWC.

Long said that customers are typically billed every other month, so they would probably see the first part of the rate increase in January. Long said the average increase would be about $6.90 a month.

The GSWC began negotiations with the utility commission in 2008 to raise rates for customers throughout two of the regions it covers in Southern California in order to provide for new infrastructure, including new wells.

Representatives did not know on Tuesday if Barstow would have any new infrastructure as a result of the recent perchlorate contamination.