There are new rules on the table for fire hydrants across the Mountain State.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission on Thursday issued an order proposing rules for inspection, flow testing and color-coding of public fire hydrants statewide.
The proposal follows a January PSC staff finding of widespread failure among utilities throughout West Virginia to inspect, test and maintain their fire hydrants.
In a January memorandum, the PSC staff recommended amending state code governing water utilities to address hydrant inspection and testing, finding that state rules and regulations don’t require annual inspection or periodic flow testing in accordance with national standards.
Under the newly proposed rules, water utilities must inspect public fire hydrants at least once a year, and also after it becomes aware of use, damage malfunction or other event impacting the hydrant. Water utilities must annually report their numbers of public fire hydrants at the beginning and end of the year, according to the rules proposal.
The order incorporates rules proposed by a PSC-appointed task force formed in March that included water utilities and the commission’s Consumer Advocate Division representing residential ratepayers.
The task force-crafted rules were filed in July by PSC staff under a state law passed in March, House Bill 5617, allowing utilities to increase rates to comply with standards to be set by the PSC. The rules apply to all regulated public water utilities that own, operate or maintain public fire hydrants.
Roots of the rules proposed Thursday extend back to June 2023, when the PSC ordered an investigation into the maintenance and testing of nearly 50,000 fire hydrants operated in West Virginia.
A June PSC order required water utilities to detail the number, age, operational status and oversight of fire hydrants. The investigation followed ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä firefighters reporting insufficient flow at three hydrants on the West Side during a May house fire that left a dog dead.
Based on responses from 256 water utilities, PSC staff found only two-thirds of hydrants are inspected every year and stressed that all hydrants should be inspected annually. PSC staff reported 11% of hydrants statewide are older than 50 years, the age at which staff determined hydrants should be replaced.
Just 68% of utilities reported regularly flow testing hydrants, something staff said should be performed on all hydrants. Only 42% of utilities indicated they had a written procedure for hydrant maintenance, which includes inspection, according to PSC staff.
Under the newly proposed rules, a utility must “promptly†repair or replace out-of-service hydrants. Hydrants must be restored to service within 90 days, unless the PSC approves a different time for restoration or the utility shows good cause for delay.
The new rules proposal says utilities must complete flow testing on each public fire hydrant within five years of the rules taking effect, and then flow test each hydrant on a five-year basis. Fire hydrants must be color-coded, or marked, within 30 days of flow test completion.
The proposal would require water utilities to have a comprehensive, written program detailing the inspection, flow testing, marking and maintenance of public fire hydrants. Water utilities determined to be out of compliance would be subject to penalties under state code subjecting utilities to a fine of up to $5,000, but the PSC could change the monetary penalty.
PSC staff grant program proposal cast aside
The PSC staff predicted the costs of replacing hydrants would “place a large financial burden on smaller utilities,†many of which can’t afford to spend more on hydrants without substantial rate hikes, in the January memorandum.
The staff memo said such a burden would be in store for nonprofit utilities with smaller customer bases and limited access to capital for investment especially. Accordingly, the staff suggested it would be “advantageous†to set up a Legislature-appropriated hydrant replacement grant program.
The PSC staff predicted that the $70 million in funding it suggested for its proposed program would need to be spread across fiscal years, to be manageable. But PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane told state lawmakers during their 2024 regular legislative session that unidentified opposition to PSC staff’s hydrant replacement grant program proposal caused the PSC to favor allowing utilities to increase rates to comply with new standards. The PSC did not respond to a previous request to identify that opposition.
