Aqua America: The Private Water Utility Draining North Carolina

Clean drinking water is a basic human need. So what happens when a family's monthly water bill costs more than its family share cell phone plan?

Such is the absurd situation faced by families who must pay Aqua North Carolina—the state's largest private (read: for-profit) water utility—for their drinking water and sewer service.  Not only do these customers pay more than $100, sometimes more than $150 a month for their water, they are already paying twice as much as families lucky enough to live in the service area of public, municipal water systems in place like Raleigh and Charlotte.

Here is the last straw: Aqua North Carolina is now seeking approval for its 2nd rate increase (20% for water, 16% for sewer) in three years. The company, a division of Aqua America, the second-largest private water supplier in the nation, a corporation that just gave out 15 cent quarterly dividends on its stock and has given out a dividend every year of its 65 year history, claims it is still not making its legally-allowed levels of profit from these customers. The rate case reads straight out of their playbook, detailed in a 2008 report by Food & Water Watch: “Aqua America – Strategies of a Water Profiteer."

North Carolina residents who are held hostage to this supplier have had enough. They are raising hell across the state and are mounting an organized campaign and protest to convince state regulators to rein in this case of "a monopoly run wild," as one outraged business customer puts it.

Wayne Hancock, president of the Hampton Ridge Neighbors, a Aqua-serviced subdivision near Raleigh, read about this increase in The Charlotte Observer and started a petition on Change.org to voice his disapproval to the utility commission. (Sign the petition to the right or click here). Hancock, who frequently pays $150/month for his summer water bill, is particularly bothered that Aqua is citing "declining per customer use" as one justification for the rate hike. "This is one of those real Catch-22 situations. We heed our government, and they use our tax dollars to convince people to conserve water, especially when we have droughts. North Carolina customers should not be penalized for being good citizens and conserving our precious water supply," he told Change.org.

Hancock doesn't call himself a big-time activist. He is simply tired of being gouged, even as he looks into innovative reclaimed lawn watering systems to conserve and reduce his own bill.

He is joined by a growing number of Aqua North Carolina's 88,000 customers across the state. I also spoke with Juli Williams, a mother of 5, and another Aqua customer leading the charge. She and a small band of Aqua customers are busy doing research and mobilizing homeowners associations across the state in preparation for a hearing (date undecided) on the case. Last time, when Aqua filed for an increase in 2009, the public announcement came last-minute and buried. This time, they were looking out for it by checking the filings. You can follow their Facebook page Residents Against Aqua America by clicking on this link.

Ms. Williams shared with me the group's growing body of research on Aqua's shady practices (you can read one document here). Aqua's style is to "aggressively acquire" small water systems and then justify service hikes by citing upgrade and maintenance costs far higher than their competitors. "Aqua claims that they have higher investments to make to make because it serves smaller communities in N.C. including Pine Burr in Catawba County with just three customers. Why would any rationale company make an investment to serve three customers?" their document notes.

This campaign is an important example of a disturbing national trend. Private corporations, from companies such as Aqua America to bottlers such as Nestle, are increasingly controlling our critical water supplies. Companies by their nature are out to protect their bottom line, not the public's interest. Meanwhile, climate change, development and sprawl mean increasing drought and water scarcity in aquifers and rivers in many parts of this nation; North Carolina is at the top of that list.

Please sign the petition to support the case against Aqua North Carolina. This national corporation—with about 1 million customers nationwide—must know the public will stand up to its attempts to gouge our public water.

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Photo courtesy of Residents Against Aqua America