Over 100 people told the ACC chairman about their water bills. He asked them for evidence.

Update, Oct. 29, 2026: The meeting happened. Here's how it went.

More than 100 people filled the Yuma County Board of Supervisors Auditorium on Wednesday evening, the Yuma Sun reported. Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Nick Myers joined by video, as planned.

The numbers people brought were not subtle. Cynthia Valencia said her neighbors got a letter warning of a 300% increase and that her own bill went up 1,200% in August. Another resident described a 700% jump. Candace Weick said her July bill hit $611 and asked for a $450 credit. Supervisor Tony Reyes said he'd seen one account billed for 147,000 gallons in a month.

"The ACC has failed us," Valencia said. "We are not being heard," said Weick.

Myers didn't dismiss them, but he didn't agree with them either. He said he hadn't seen evidence of overcharging. He offered two other explanations: some customers may have been undercharged before, and system improvements have pushed rates up. On meters, he said "old meters do end up with problems, and now people are thinking they are being overbilled," while new meters are working correctly. He told residents the Commission would review what they send, and asked that it be "actual evidence," KYMA reported.

Residents pushed back on how meters get tested. Several argued a meter should be checked where it's actually installed, in Yuma heat, not in an air-conditioned lab. Gary Skinner said the problem goes beyond one company: "This is not just about Cactus States."

Aaron Silas, a vice president with the company, said he was taking notes and would bring the concerns back. He didn't give a timeline.

Two more things worth knowing:

• Another increase is on the table. KYMA reported that Cactus State sent a letter this week seeking another rate increase. We haven't yet found that request on the Commission's docket, and the amount hasn't been reported.
• The petition math. Under state law, when 25 or more customers formally challenge whether a rate is reasonable, the Commission has to set a hearing. Tierra Mesa residents gathered 75 signatures on a petition in April, and Attorney General Kris Mayes has asked the Commission to reopen the rate case. The original rate docket's case schedule, checked Oct. 29, lists no new hearing.

If you want your bill reviewed, the most useful thing you can send the Commission is what Myers asked for: bills showing your usage history alongside the charges. Comments go to the Commission's Consumer Services office at azcc.gov, docket WS-21155A-24-0219.

(Original preview article continues below.)

For most of this year, people in a few corners of Yuma County have been asking a simple thing: come here and look at us.

When the Arizona Corporation Commission held its public comment hearing on Cactus State Utility's rate case in July 2025, it was in Phoenix, with a separate call-in session a couple of weeks earlier. The new rates that came out of that case took effect last December. Residents of Tierra Mesa Estates have been comparing bills ever since, and they haven't liked the math.

Now they're getting a version of what they asked for. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 5 p.m., Yuma County will host a public meeting about private water systems at the Board of Supervisors Auditorium, 197 S. Main St. Commission Chairman Nick Myers has agreed to take part and answer questions from residents in the room.

He'll be doing it by video, though.

What this meeting is, and what it isn't

This is a Yuma County meeting, not a Corporation Commission meeting. The county is careful about that in its announcement: it is "NOT an official Arizona Corporation Commission event," and no Commission votes or other actions will take place.

So nobody's rates change on Oct. 28. Nobody's case gets reopened. What residents get is a chance to tell the person who chairs the state's utility regulator, directly, what their bills and their tap water have been like, and to ask him questions.

That's not nothing. The county doesn't regulate private water companies at all. The Commission does. County Administrator Ian McGaughey said as much in his Sept. 24 letter asking for the meeting, writing that it "would give commissioners the chance to hear firsthand from Yuma County residents about the utility issues affecting their households and communities."

The county asked for commissioners, plural, and asked them to come in person. What it got is one commissioner, on a screen. Worth knowing going in.

Who's been complaining, and about what

The county's letter named three places: Gadsden and the Tierra Mesa and Rancheros Bonitos subdivisions. The concerns it listed were rate increases, water quality and water pressure.

Tierra Mesa and Rancheros Bonitos are both systems owned by Cactus State Utility Operating Company, part of Central States Water Resources, and both were included in the consolidated rate case the Commission approved on Nov. 6, 2025. The county's announcement doesn't say which water provider serves the Gadsden residents it heard from, and we haven't confirmed it yet.

We wrote about Tierra Mesa in detail earlier this month. The short version: for a home using 10,000 gallons a month on a standard meter, the bill went from $26.25 to $104.98, including a rate-case surcharge set to run up to three years. The water has also tested above the federal limit for uranium. The most recent quarterly notice we found showed an annual average of 33.6 micrograms per liter, against a limit of 30.

The company says it inherited systems that went decades without investment. Myers made a similar point to KYMA this month, noting the previous Tierra Mesa owner's rates had been set in 2000 and that the Commission has approved financing for a new treatment plant to deal with the uranium. Residents say they still haven't seen much for what they're paying.

There's also a newer wrinkle. Central States told KAWC that a "usage data irregularity" caused incorrect charges for one billing cycle, that it has been corrected, and that credits will appear on the next bill. It said the problem had nothing to do with meter accuracy and that customers can ask for a free meter test. The company hasn't said which cycle that was or how many customers were affected. That seems like a fair question for Oct. 28.

Where the bigger fight stands

Attorney General Kris Mayes asked the Commission in September to reopen the Cactus State rate case, citing a petition from 75 residents. As of Oct. 20, the Commission's docket shows no hearing scheduled and no decision on that request. The most recent filing is another resident's comment opposing the rates, docketed Oct. 19.

Central States' CEO, Josiah Cox, told reporters earlier this month that the company would work toward a hearing and hold its own community meetings "within the next two months." No company filing asking to reopen the case appears on the docket yet, and we haven't found dates for those meetings.

One more piece of context. Myers lost his Republican primary in July and will leave the Commission when his term ends in early January. Until then he's the chairman and a full voting member, and any decision on reopening the Cactus State case could come while he's still there. But the people who will regulate these systems for the next four years are partly being chosen on the Nov. 3 ballot.

If you want to be heard

• Show up: Wednesday, Oct. 28, 5 p.m., Yuma County Board of Supervisors Auditorium, 197 S. Main St., Yuma.
• Write in: Email publiccomment@yumacountyaz.gov with "ACC comment" in the subject line. Comments are accepted until one hour before the meeting, so by 4 p.m. on Oct. 28.
• File with the state: You can also send a comment or complaint to the Commission directly through its Consumer Services office at azcc.gov. Comments on this case are filed under docket WS-21155A-24-0219.

If you bring a bill, bring the usage line too. A lot of this argument turns on whether people's usage went down while their bills went up, and that's the part that's easiest to show.

The county's announcement is also available in Spanish.

Sources

• Yuma County announcement, Oct. 19, 2026
• Yuma County invitation release, Sept. 25, 2026
• ACC docket WS-21155A-24-0219, checked Oct. 20; ACC Decision 81549
• KYMA, Oct. 1
• KAWC, Oct. 19
• AZFamily, Oct. 8
• KJZZ, July 23

Update sources

• Residents address ACC about high water bills
• Yuma County Board of Supervisors hosts Town Hall over increasing water bill rates
• ACC docket WS-21155A-24-0219, checked Oct. 29, 2026
• Arizona Revised Statutes 40-246