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. (a) (1) Each water corporation with 500 or more service
connections that is not subject to the requirements of Section 525,
526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code shall install, on and after
January 1, 2010, a water meter on each new service connection.
(2) Each water corporation with 500 or more service connections as
of January 1, 2010, that is not subject to the requirements of
Section 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code, shall install a water
meter upon each unmetered service connection by January 1, 2025.
(3) Each water corporation with less than 500 service connections
as of January 1, 2010, that thereafter reaches 500 or more service
connections and that is not subject to the requirements of Section
526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code, shall, within 10 years of
attaining that threshold, install a water meter upon each unmetered
service connection.
(4) Each water corporation that is subject to the requirements of
Section 525, 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code shall install water
meters pursuant to those sections.
(b) (1) Each water corporation that has installed water meters, or
caused water meters to be installed, that is not subject to Section
525, 526, 527, or 528 of the Water Code, shall, on and after January
1, 2015, charge customers for potable water based on the actual
volume of deliveries, as measured by the water meter. This paragraph
does not limit the authority of the commission to authorize a water
corporation that promotes conservation through volumetric water
pricing to determine and impose a rate, fee, or charge in addition to
the charge for the actual volume of metered water delivered.
(2) Each water corporation that is subject to Section 525, 526,
527, or 528 of the Water Code shall charge customers for potable
water based on the actual volume of deliveries, as measured by the
water meter, consistent with the requirements of those sections.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in order to provide customers
with experience in volume-based water service charges, a water
corporation that is subject to paragraph (1) may delay, for one
annual seasonal cycle of water use, the use of meter-based charges
for service connections that are being converted from nonvolume-based
billing to volume-based billing.
(c) A water corporation shall recover the cost of providing
services related to the purchase, installation, operation, and
maintenance of water meters in rates, fees, or charges. Rates, fees,
or charges recovered by the water corporation pursuant to this
section are subject to approval by the commission pursuant to Article
1 (commencing with Section 451) of Chapter 3 and Article 2
(commencing with Section 727) of this chapter.
(d) The commission shall ensure that each water corporation that
is subject to the requirements of this section or the requirements of
the Water Measurement Law (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 500)
of Division 1 of the Water Code) comply with those requirements.