The decision of the Price Commission of the Government of the Canary Islands to reject a rise in the water rate in Santa Cruz of almost 8% will force the City hall to review the terms of the agreement reached with Sacyr (majority shareholder of Emmasa) to reformulate the investment plan and the return of the canon, which also included the increase in rates. “We will sit down with them again and I am sure that we will reach an understanding,” said the mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, yesterday.
The mayor defended that “the important thing is that this agreement has been reached and that we want an Emmasa that provides the best possible service with square accounts. We cannot forget that we are part of Emmasa and we want it to be healthy, and in that sense I am convinced that we will reach some kind of understanding”. It must be remembered that the agreement with Sacyr states that the City Council must compensate the company if the rate increase is rejected.
Regarding the decision of the Price Commission, which although it rejects an increase of 7.9%, it does estimate that this rise is 2.5%, the mayor defends that it is a decision that gives the City Council reason. “In principle, the Commission agrees with the City Council in the sense that it recognizes that it is necessary to modify the water rate. Regardless of the percentage or the numbers that have been made, and that we are going to study in detail, it has been recognized that the rate has not been touched since 2012, and that, obviously, the increase in energy costs makes it necessary to update the rate ” .
Hernandez
Yesterday the former socialist mayor Patricia Hernández advanced that, after the report of the Price Commission was made public, she demanded that the City Council stop the “rate” and rectify it by a government team that “watches over the interests of the Sacyr company than by the citizens of Santa Cruz.”
The position defended by Patricia Hernández, points out the PSOE, coincides with the sentences issued after two disputes by Sacyr against the Government of the Canary Islands (2018) and the City Council of Santa Cruz (2022), where it is detailed that water rates cannot be increased based on the CPI. In this sense, Ella Hernández points out that, if necessary, she will go to the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands to obtain a new sentence that stops the rise.
