Aqua Pennsylvania Files Rate Request Based on Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Repairs and Improvements Statewide
August 20 2021 - 4:30PM
Business Wire
Water would be priced at about 2 cents per
gallon
Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. filed an application with the
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today requesting an
increase in water and wastewater rates for its customers. The
primary reason for the request is the recovery of $1.1 billion the
company has prudently spent to upgrade its distribution and
treatment systems, improving drinking water quality and service
reliability throughout its water and wastewater operations.
“Since our last rate case, Aqua will have replaced more than 400
miles of aging water main, as well as associated valves, service
lines and fire hydrants throughout approximately 5,800 miles of
distribution system. These critical improvements enhance service by
reducing the number of water main breaks and leakage that can occur
from older pipes, thereby reducing environmental impacts,” said
Aqua Pennsylvania President Marc Lucca. “We also opened a new
state-of-the-art environmental laboratory this year to help us
continue our long history of providing safe drinking water to our
customers and returning clean wastewater to the environment.”
Aqua’s laboratory employees perform about 90,000 water quality
tests a year.
A significant portion of Aqua’s capital program has been
dedicated to upgrading and rehabilitating treatment plants and
wells, including the installation of equipment to meet new, more
stringent water quality requirements for increased sustained
disinfection. Improvements to wastewater operations include
collection system replacement and renewal, treatment plant
rehabilitation to ensure reliable operation and that high-quality
treated water is returned to the environment, upgrades to
electrical systems, and the installation of generators to ensure
continued service during power outages. Given increasing external
threats, Aqua also invested heavily in cybersecurity programs to
protect the computer systems used to operate treatment plants as
well as those used to maintain sensitive customer and company
data.
“Providing safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater service
to our customers and communities is essential to their health,
quality of life, environment and economic well-being,” Lucca said.
“The vital nature of our mission became even more evident as our
employees continued to serve our customers and improve our water
and wastewater infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s
imperative that we maintain and improve our critical infrastructure
to ensure our service is ready when our customers need it.”
If the company’s full request were to be approved, it would
increase a residential water bill for a typical customer using
4,000 gallons per month from $69.35 to $81.32, an increase of
$11.97 a month (40 cents a day). The average monthly residential
wastewater bill would increase from $55.51 to $73.95. Any new base
rates set by the PUC would not be effective until 2022.
With over 490,000 water and wastewater customers throughout
Pennsylvania, the company said its $1.1 billion of capital spending
since the last rate request equates to an average investment of
about $2,245 per customer.
If the PUC were to grant the entire request, the typical Aqua
residential customer would still be able to have a day’s worth of
water, approximately 134 gallons, for approximately $2.71 — or
about 2 cents per gallon for quality water delivered directly to
the customer’s home. This usage includes cooking, drinking,
showering, washing clothes and dishes, and sanitation. The
requested increase in annual revenue for Aqua is $97.7 million.
Customers can call Aqua at 877.987.2782 for more information
about the rate request.
Aqua Pennsylvania serves approximately 1.5 million people in 32
counties throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Visit
AquaAmerica.com or follow Aqua on Facebook at
facebook.com/MyAquaAmerica and on Twitter at @MyAquaAmerica.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
which generally include words such as “believes,” “expects,”
“intends,” “anticipates,” “estimates” and similar expressions. The
company can give no assurance that any actual or future results or
events discussed in these statements will be achieved. Any
forward-looking statements represent its views only as of today and
should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any
subsequent date. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking
statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that
could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially from
the statements contained in this release. Such forward-looking
statements include but are not limited to statements relating to
the capital to be invested by the water, wastewater and gas
distribution divisions of the company. There are important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including
the factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. For more information regarding risks and
uncertainties associated with the company’s business, please refer
to the company’s annual, quarterly and other SEC filings. The
company is not under any obligation - and expressly disclaims any
such obligation - to update or alter its forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
WTRGF
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210820005350/en/
Gretchen Toner 484.368.4816 GMToner@AquaAmerica.com
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