Merger of two water companies serving NEPA gets PUC hearing in Scranton

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission will hold a hearing in Scranton next month on a proposed merger of American Water Works, which is the parent firm of Pennsylvania American Water, and Essential Utilities, the parent company of Aqua Pennsylvania.

On Thursday, the PUC issued a schedule of in-person and telephonic hearings to be held in late April and early May throughout the state on the proposed merger. Locally, a pair of in-person hearings will be held April 30 in Scranton at the Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel, at 1 and 6 p.m.

The companies

According to the application filed with the PUC, American Water and its subsidiaries provide water and wastewater services to 3.5 million customer connections, or more than 14 million people in 14 states, including Pennsylvania. Essential provides water, wastewater and natural gas services to approximately 5.5 million people in Pennsylvania and nine other states.

American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded water and wastewater utility company in the nation. Its Pennsylvania American Water subsidiary serves 682,000 water customers and 97,000 wastewater customers in 37 counties across the state. PAW is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing water and/or wastewater services to 2.4 million people in Pennsylvania. PAW’s Northeast Pennsylvania territory has 36 water systems in the counties of Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming. In Lackawanna County, PAW owns and operates the Lake Scranton water system and the wastewater system serving Scranton and Dunmore.

Essential’s Aqua provides water and wastewater services across eight states. The Aqua Pennsylvania subsidiary supplies water to 1.5 million people in 32 counties in the Keystone State. One of Aqua Pennsylvania’s five service areas is the Honesdale/White Haven Division Service Area, which serves parts of Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

The merger

The two parent companies announced in October a proposed merger to become “a leading regulated U.S. water and wastewater public utility” with a combined value of $63 billion. The agreement calls for American Water shareholders to own 69% of the combined company and Essential shareholders to own 31%. The proposed merger remains pending with the PUC.

American Water President and CEO John C. Griffith said in the announcement, “This combination brings together two industry leaders united by our shared mission to provide safe, clean, reliable and affordable water and wastewater services to our customers. By joining forces with Essential, the combined company’s enhanced scale and operational efficiency will support continued investment in our critical infrastructure, enabling us to continue providing superior customer service at affordable rates. We look forward to bringing together the talented teams of both companies to help solve the many water and wastewater challenges across the country and expand our customer base.”

In the same statement, Essential Chairman and CEO Christopher H. Franklin said in part, “We are confident that the combined company will build upon our longstanding track record of delivering safe and reliable services and be better positioned to solve today’s challenges while creating a sustainable future. Together, we will have expertise, financial strength and regulatory credibility to continuously improve our infrastructure and meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

Hearings on tap

Other PUC in-person hearings will be held in Dauphin, Chester, Washington, Montgomery and Clarion counties. For in-person hearings in these counties and in Scranton, preregistration is not available. Individuals wishing to testify at an in-person hearing must sign up at the venue.

Telephonic public input hearings will be held April 28 at 1 and 6 p.m., accessible toll-free at 1-888-547-8922, and via a passcode number of 74903461. Preregistration is encouraged but not required for the hearings via phone, but failure to preregister might result in callers not being called upon to testify. The deadline to preregister for the phone hearings is April 27 at noon. To preregister online, email Cadi Eberly at caeberly@pa.gov, and provide your first and last name, the time of the hearing at which you want to testify and the phone number that will be used to call in, and whether an interpreter is required and the language of the interpreter.

To preregister by phone, call the PUC’s Administrative Law Judges’ office at 1-412-565-3550 and leave a message with your first and last name, the time of the hearing at which you wish to testify, the phone number that will be used to call in, a phone number where you can be reached prior to the hearing if the PUC needs to contact you beforehand, your email address if you have one, and whether an interpreter is required and the language of the interpreter.

The Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate represents the interests of utility customers before the PUC. If you have questions about the public input hearings or merger, contact the OCA toll free at 1-800-684-6560 or by email at consumer@paoca.org.

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