How to Lose Your Utility Franchise
The Utilities Commission of Pennsylvania ordered the acquisition of the Clean Treatment Sewage Co. by Pennsylvania American Water.
One does not like to see smaller companies simply picked up by the bigger ones. However, if the water and sewage facility does not appropriately protect the public health and safety, it will quickly be condemned.
Quite possibly, clean treatment has a reasonable defense to why it went out of operation for an extended period. However, one can always expect an operation which does not appropriately operate to face early acquisition in order to protect the customers.
The PUC has directed PAWC to include in its plan information on how the company plans to recover the costs of improvements to bring the CTSC wastewater system CTSC into compliance, in addition to other pertinent financial information, as well as whether the company plans to switch the Marcel Lake Estates customers from flat rates to metered rates.
Also as part of the acquisition, the commission directed CTSC to refund, without interest, availability charges actually paid by customers between March 2005, when this service was not available, and May 2009 when the Commission ordered CTSC to cease billing these customers. The commission further directed that any refunds be disbursed from the proceeds, if any, of the sale of the wastewater system.
