Opponents of the Crooked River Ranch Water Company say their petition drive has collected enough signatures to force oversight by the state utilities agency.

A group of ranch residents, calling themselves the Crooked River Ranch Water Watchdogs, have argued the state Public Utilities Commission should regulate the company because it’s run by board members who aren’t accountable to customers and are too secretive about company finances.

”We’re interested in assuring that the water company is operated in a sound and lawful manner and what we are requesting is an oversight from the PUC to help us assure the members that the water company is being operated in that manner,” said Charles Nichols, leader of the Watchdogs.

But board member John Combs said the company’s in good shape and that he wants to verify the names against a list of company customers before conceding that customers want change.

”We need to verify (names) too because there may be many people or some people on that list who are not qualified (as customers),” Combs said. ”This company is doing very well as it is and we don’t need any regulation from the PUC.”

The Crooked River Ranch Water Company is one of more than 300 water companies in Oregon that operate as homeowners associations and are outside PUC authority, according to state officials.

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Under PUC rules, 20 percent of a private utility’s members must sign a petition for the state to assert regulatory authority, said Mike Dougherty, program manager of corporate analysis and water regulation for the agency.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the anti-water company group had collected nearly 400 signatures from company customers, according to Nichols. Because the nonprofit company serves more than 1,500 accounts, the opponents needed roughly 300 signatures to meet that mark. Nichols plans to submit the signatures to the state this week, after confirming the signatures, he said.

If the PUC did regulate the water company, it would gain the ability to approve or deny rate increases, monitor water quality and allow customers to file complaints against the company, Dougherty said. The cost to the company would be a quarter of a percent of gross operating revenue each year, he said.

Rule changes to allow customer petitions were adopted over the last few years, said Dougherty, and customers of only one homeowners association – Metolius Meadows, in Camp Sherman – have taken that route to PUC regulation.

The Metolius Meadows Homeowners Association has just one employee and provides water to about 150 residents, said association president Kevin Adams.

Adams said he’s not sure why homeowners petitioned the PUC for regulation last year, but that the board decided not to oppose the request. It’s still early in the regulator process, Adams said, but so far the transition has been relatively painless, he said.

”It requires us to form our business in a financially sound manner, that’s a reasonable thing,” Adams said.

A separate investigation of water company practices, by Jefferson County District Attorney Peter Deuel, is still under way, Deuel said on Tuesday. It’s unclear when that investigation will be finished, he said.