Editor’s Note: Larry Bingaman, the president and chief executive officer of the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority, submitted this column in response to a column written by Ansonia Board of Alderman President Stephen Blume.
Seven years! That’s a very long time for a customer of any utility to go without any rate increases. But that’s exactly what the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA) has given our customers in Ansonia, Derby and Seymour. With this knowledge, these customers can project their water expenses through at least 2013.
This is because the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) approved water rates for Ansonia, Derby and Seymour in 2006 when they were served by Birmingham Utilities (BUI). Then, in 2008 when BUI merged with RWA, there was a commitment – approved by the DPUC in November 2007 – that the water rates former BUI customers pay would remain stable until RWA rates reached parity in about five years, providing the customers with the rare opportunity of having NO RATE INCREASES for a total of at least seven years, perhaps more.
The Ansonia aldermen say they “have been misled by Birmingham, the RWA and let down by state officials and regulators” and have asked the Office of the Attorney General and the DPUC to launch an investigation into the merger because they believe Ansonia is paying too much for its water. RWA has not misled anyone; the merger was conducted with full public scrutiny at the DPUC and by RWA’s Representative Policy Board. In fact, the approval of the merger between BUI and RWA was the topic of three DPUC public hearings in 2007 — at the Ansonia City Hall and Malborough Town Hall and at DPUC headquarters in New Britain. No one, public official or otherwise, objected to RWA’s commitment not to raise water rates until they reached parity with the RWA rates. (Please see comment section for Blume’s response to this statement.) That same commitment was made by RWA to its Representative Policy Board, which also approved the merger after a public hearing.
It’s true that the former BUI customers pay more than customers in the rest of the RWA service area, but the former BUI customers would pay even higher rates if their former water utility hadn’t merged with RWA. It’s a fact that the DPUC specifically noted in its 2007 decision approving the merger and stated: “When looking to the future impacts that this merger will have on ratepayers, the Department agrees with all parties in this proceeding that absent this merger, the rates of BUI would be higher.”
We are confident that any review of the merger transaction will show that RWA has a balanced system for calculating water rates throughout its service area and that this system was known by government officials prior to the merger.
RWA is looking forward to cooperating with any investigation into the merger. The RWA senior management and the Authority Boards are confident that the transaction was properly conducted. If anyone has information to the contrary, RWA would welcome that being brought forward.
It cannot be overstated that we value all our customers; whether they are in the original Water District or in Ansonia, Derby, or Seymour, communities that are now part of the overall RWA service area. We are here to provide our customers – ALL our customers – with high quality water at reasonable cost and the opportunity for environmental education and recreation while we work to preserve and protect the RWA’s watershed that comprises 27,000 acres.
Our primary mission is to provide high quality water at a reasonable cost to 118,500 homes and businesses – approximately 430,000 people – in a water district that consists of Ansonia, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Hamden, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Seymour, West Haven and Woodbridge. For more information, please go to www.rwater.com.
Click here to view the original column by Stephen Blume, Ansonia’s board of aldermen president.
