Essential Utilities’ Pennsylvania Wastewater Subsidiary Reaches Agreement With City of Beaver Falls to Purchase Municipal Wastewater System Assets
October 21 2021 - 7:38AM
Business Wire
Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE: WTRG) announced today that its
Pennsylvania wastewater subsidiary has signed an asset purchase
agreement with the City of Beaver Falls in Beaver County to acquire
the municipality’s wastewater assets for approximately $41.25
million. The pending fair market value transaction is subject to
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approval.
Beaver Falls’ wastewater system serves approximately 7,600
customer-equivalents, including residential and commercial
connections. The city currently provides sewer service to customers
of Beaver Falls and seven outlying municipalities, including
Patterson Township, Patterson Heights, White Township, West
Mayfield, Big Beaver Borough, Eastvale Borough and North Sewickley
Township.
“Our agreement with the City of Beaver Falls to acquire its
wastewater system is our first in Beaver County,” said Essential
Utilities Chairman and CEO Christopher Franklin. “We’re looking
forward to benefiting our new customers by leveraging our expertise
in compliance, large-scale purchasing power and other efficiencies
that come from our national footprint.”
The company anticipates the need for approximately $10 million
in infrastructure improvements over the next decade with a focus on
safety, security and treatment plant upgrades.
“On behalf of Aqua Pennsylvania and as the city’s new wastewater
system owner-operator, I want to thank the city council for its
unanimous support. We look forward to the timely completion of this
acquisition and are excited to serve customers in the City of
Beaver Falls and surrounding communities,” said Aqua Pennsylvania
President Marc Lucca.
Beaver Falls is the fifth asset purchase agreement executed by
Essential’s Aqua companies in 2021. Including Beaver Falls, the
company has seven signed purchase agreements for water and
wastewater systems, which have a total purchase price of
approximately $467.7 million and represent approximately 234,000
equivalent retail customers or equivalent dwelling units. The
company closed six water and wastewater acquisitions in 2020 and
two so far in 2021 representing an addition of approximately $99.0
million in rate base and nearly 20,000 customer equivalents to the
company’s footprint.
About Essential
Essential is one of the largest publicly traded water,
wastewater service and natural gas providers in the U.S., serving
approximately 5 million people across 10 states under the Aqua and
Peoples brands. Essential is committed to excellence in proactive
infrastructure investment, regulatory expertise, operational
efficiency and environmental stewardship. The company recognizes
the importance water and natural gas play in everyday life and is
proud to deliver safe, reliable services that contribute to the
quality of life in the communities it serves. For more information,
visit http://www.essential.co.
About Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater
Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater is a subsidiary of Aqua
Pennsylvania and serves approximately 45,000 connections in 16
counties throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Visit
AquaAmerica.com for more information 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,
including, among others: the company’s ability to receive
governmental approval of the transaction and to successfully close
the acquisition. There are important factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements including: general economic
business conditions; the receipt of governmental approvals; the
successful closing of the acquisition; the successful integration
of the customers and the facilities; effects of pandemics or other
widespread health problems; the ability to successfully implement
our capital program; and other factors discussed in our Annual
Report on Form 10-K, which is on file with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. For more information regarding risks and
uncertainties associated with Essential Utilities’ business, please
refer to Essential Utilities’ annual, quarterly and other SEC
filings. Essential Utilities 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/20211021005572/en/
Gretchen Toner Communications & Marketing M: 484.368.4816
Media@Essential.co Brian Dingerdissen Investor Relations
610.645.1191 BJDingerdissen@Essential.co
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