TFTT Report
Powelson Responds to Activist Misinformation about Pennsylvania’s Act 12
Recently, the Chester County Press ran a letter penned by an activist opposed to Pennsylvania’s utility valuation reform law, Act 12. When NAWC president and CEO Rob Powelson penned a response, the publication refused to print it.
Unlike the Chester County Press, we believe it is crucial that Pennsylvanians have the whole truth – based on facts, not scare tactics – when making important decisions about the future of their water and wastewater infrastructure. Rob Powelson’s full response is published below.
Chester County Press LTE: Data Debunks Chorus of False Claims About Water Companies
By: Robert Powelson, NAWC President and CEO
It was with great amusement that I read a letter published here that some so-called water experts have expressed concerns about Act 12 of 2016, which was signed into law by Governor Wolf. As a former Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, I disagree with statements about the appropriate utility valuation principles outlined in Act 12.
As a Chester Water Authority customer, I have a personal interest in ensuring my town has strong water operations and infrastructure. It is an indisputable fact that communities across the Commonwealth have experienced innumerable benefits from working with a water company, including safer water. Data clearly shows that Pennsylvania’s water companies provide higher quality water than government-run systems. They are 37.4% less likely to incur a water quality violation and 10 to 100 times less likely to have a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
And if safer water isn’t enough, the New Garden Township example the writer cites provides further evidence of the benefits of working with a water company and how the Commonwealth’s Act 12 – which ensures towns get “fair market value” when they sell their assets like a homeowner gets when selling a house – has been such a success.
New Garden Township transferred its wastewater system to a water company when its aging infrastructure threatened to release raw sewage into waterways. While rates increased to fund system improvements, New Garden officials admitted rates would be higher if the government still ran the system.
I urge you to visit https://truthfromthetap.com/pennsylvania/ to allow truth to prevail over the misinformation campaign being funded by Washington, D.C.-based groups opposed to regulated water utilities.