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Resident and activist warn Paulsboro council about potential sale to American Water and possible rate shock
Summary
A public commenter representing Food & Water said OPRA responses indicate correspondence with American Water and warned a sale could result in an "87% increase and at least $890 a year" for a typical user; council members said no sale decision has been made.
During the privilege-of-the-floor public comments, Kate Delaney (a representative for Food & Water from Collingswood) told council she had filed an OPRA request about borough correspondence with American Water Company. She warned that American Water's business model can pass infrastructure upgrade costs to customers and said that, based on her information, sale of the borough system could mean an "87% increase and at least $890 a year" for a household using 60,000 gallons annually.
Councilman Singleton responded that the borough is keeping its water system, and Councilman Haynes said no decision to sell had been made. Delaney urged the council to reconsider any sale and to be aware of state-level statutory structures that can allow private utilities to recover infrastructure costs through rate adjustments; council did not record any motion regarding sale discussions at the March 10 meeting.
