Business
City Attorney Settles Major Recycling Case Benefitting Oakland Ratepayers
The settlement requires that CWS refund Oakland ratepayers for those years of overcharging and lower their rates for recycling services going forward. The settlement will make Oakland ratepayers whole, remedying the harm they suffered for years because of CWS’ overcharging practices.
By Post Staff
The Oakland City Council this week approved settlement of the city’s lawsuit against California Waste Solutions, Inc. (CWS) after years of litigation to recover for Oakland ratepayers approximately $6 million in overcharges for bringing recycling bins at multi-family dwellings out to the curb (“Push/pull Fees”).
“Unjust and unfair dealing is unacceptable and will not stand,” City Attorney Barbara J. Parker said.
The settlement requires that CWS refund Oakland ratepayers for those years of overcharging and lower their rates for recycling services going forward. The settlement will make Oakland ratepayers whole, remedying the harm they suffered for years because of CWS’ overcharging practices.
The city filed this lawsuit nearly five years ago regarding CWS’ recycling contract with Oakland. CWS set a Push/pull Fee for providing recycling services to multi-family dwellings that far exceeded the fee for the same service to single-family dwellings.
Despite the city’s best efforts to negotiate in good faith with CWS to resolve the issue without litigation, those efforts did not bear fruit. To protect Oakland residents from CWS’ overcharging practices, including charges up to 550% of what their contract allowed, the city sued CWS in 2017.
Only through the course of the litigation did the city learn that CWS had overcharged Oakland ratepayers for services related to bringing recycling bins out to the curb by a total of approximately $6 million.
Under the terms of the settlement, CWS must repay those customers who were overcharged in a timely fashion.
Oakland ratepayers who were overcharged will be notified in the coming months of their eligibility for a refund and will be provided information about the process for receiving their refund.
In addition, under the terms of the settlement, CWS will lower its rates, so they are in line with the rates charged by other companies — and in line with rates CWS itself charges in other municipalities.
