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Rate Matters
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2020
Rate Matters [Abstract]  
Rate Matters
11.  Rate Matters
 
From time to time, the Company files applications for rate increases with the PPUC and is granted rate relief as a result of such requests.  The most recent rate request was filed by the Company on May 30, 2018, and sought an annual increase in water rates of $6,399 and an annual increase in wastewater rates of $289.  Effective March 1, 2019, the PPUC authorized an increase in water rates designed to produce approximately $3,361 in additional annual revenues and an increase in wastewater rates designed to produce approximately $289 in additional annual revenues.

As part of a rate order approved by the PPUC, the Company has agreed to return $2,117 to customers as a reconcilable negative surcharge on their bills generated from March 2019 through February 2020 for the benefit of the lower tax rate effective January 1, 2018 resulting from the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or 2017 Tax Act.  The Company increased its regulatory liability by reducing revenue by $0 and $21 during the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively and $1 and $305 during the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, including the gross-up of revenue necessary to return, in rates, the effect of this temporary tax difference.  The Company reclassified no excess accumulated deferred income taxes on accelerated depreciation recorded at December 31, 2017 during the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 and $0 and $27 during the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.  As of June 30, 2020, the Company has returned $2,117 in negative surcharges to customers.

The PPUC permits water utilities to collect a distribution system improvement charge, or DSIC.  The DSIC allows the Company to add a charge to customers' bills for qualified replacement costs of certain infrastructure without submitting a rate filing.  This surcharge mechanism typically adjusts periodically based on additional qualified capital expenditures completed or anticipated in a future period.  The DSIC is capped at 5% of base rates, and is reset to zero when new base rates that reflect the costs of those additions become effective or when a utility's earnings exceed a regulatory benchmark. The DSIC reset to zero when the new base rates took effect March 1, 2019. The DSIC provided no revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, and $0 and $249 for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.