PURA panel probes Hazardville Water’s rent allocation and pro forma revenue math

PURA commissioners pressed Hazardville Water Company on how it allocated building rent between office and warehouse space, and on a pro forma revenue calculation that produced a roughly $35,000–$37,000 delta.

Members noted that applying the Massachusetts (mass) allocation formula and the company’s chosen usage percentages produced different dollar results. A commissioner flagged the discrepancy between two percentages — 65.49% and 64.98% — and asked the company to confirm which input was correct; the company offered to file correspondence pointing to the interrogatory or exhibit that contains the breakdown.

When asked to explain how the warehouse share produced a precise 91.35496% allocation to Hazardville, company subject-matter expert Dolores Strikes described the approach: apply the mass formula to 100% of building rent, then apply a 25% adjustment to the warehouse portion, reallocate to the affiliates and assign the residual to Hazardville. Strikes said she could provide a record citation to support the calculation.

Separately, the record showed a pro forma revenue line for “Ry Hill” that the authority treated twice; staff acknowledged the double-count as an error. Commissioners said the remaining differences between calculator-derived revenue and billed/adjusted revenue were still under deliberation and that parties should identify the specific record cells that support pro forma figures.

PURA invited the company to submit correspondence citing the existing exhibits rather than new evidence so the panel could determine if the record supports the company’s numbers before issuing its May 1 final decision.