Latest news with #MarylandWaterService
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
County residents with high water rates to get new company
CUMBERLAND — Although Allegany County officials recently talked to Maryland Water Service about significantly high rates, they just learned the company has been sold. Thursday, Allegany County Administrator Jason Bennett said his office a few weeks ago met with Maryland Water Service representatives to discuss monthly water and sewer bills that average about $350 and have reached $650 to $900 for some customers in Bel Air, Pinto, Glen Oaks and Highland Estates. 'We ... asked some pretty pointed questions,' Bennett said. County officials received some answers but were 'left with more questions,' he said. Wednesday, the company 'reached out to us and shared ... that system has now been sold,' Bennett said, adding that the county has few details but was told the new owner is American Water Service. 'From what we know it's going through the regulatory process,' Bennett said. 'Which means, back through the (Maryland Public Service Commission) and back through federal agencies as well.' The county does not know 'what it will do to rates,' he said. 'As we learn more, we'll continue to share.' TransactionMaryland Water Service is a Texas-based Nexus Water Group company. A press release on the American Water website Thursday stated the business 'has agreed with Nexus Regulated Utilities LLC, a subsidiary of Nexus Water Group Inc., to purchase multiple water and wastewater systems located in eight states for a total of approximately $315 million, subject to adjustment as provided for in the purchase and sale agreement.' The acquisition 'would add nearly 47,000 customer connections within American Water's existing footprint in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia,' the release stated. 'The completion of the transaction is also subject to the satisfaction or waiver of various conditions, including the receipt of all required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions,' it stated. 'The estimated closing will take place by or before August 2026.' The Cumberland Times-News was unable to confirm Thursday before press time whether the sale includes the Allegany County Maryland Water Service customers. BackgroundIn March, Bel Air resident Larry Smith led a meeting of roughly 100 folks to discuss their inability to access affordable and clean water. Participants came from Bel Air, Pinto, Glen Oaks and Highland Estates, and gathered in a large room above the Cresaptown Volunteer Fire Department. Many discussed extreme conservation measures to reduce costs of their water and sewer bills. The group's water and sewer bills, which come from Maryland Water Service, are among 'the highest in the nation,' Smith said at that time. In April, Allegany County Director of Public Works Adam Patterson said Maryland Water Service buys its water from the county, which purchases the water from Cumberland. 'The cost that we purchase from Cumberland ... we mark up and then that (pays the county's) transmission cost,' he said. 'What I'm seeing is (the water company officials) then mark it up again.' The commissioners at that time agreed to arrange a meeting, requested by the local Maryland Water Service customers, with county, state and federal delegates. ReactionThursday, Smith said he hopes the meeting he and other Maryland Water customers requested earlier this year will still happen. 'There must be a solution beyond private water for these communities,' he said, adding that the current model is economically unsustainable. He talked of hardships the customers face due to their high water bills. Some folks have to share bath water, and others must choose between paying for prescription medications or water, Smith said. Many have poor quality of water that requires significant filtration methods, he said. The water problem will 'continue to mean devaluation of property values,' Smith said. 'Whether it is Maryland Water Service or a new company that bought MSW, we look forward to the commissioners honoring their commitment to the nearly 1,400 people who requested a meeting,' he said. 'We're grateful to the commissioners in advance,' Smith said of the elected officials' pursuit of the meeting.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County commissioners pursue help for high water, sewer bills
CUMBERLAND — Allegany County officials said they want to help some area residents who are charged remarkably high water and sewer rates. In a public work session Thursday, Allegany County Administrator Jason Bennett held a thick stack of papers that contained a letter and petition with more than 1,200 signatures from folks who live in Bel Air, Pinto, Glen Oaks and Highland Estates. The residents, customers of the private company Maryland Water Service, want to meet with the commissioners and other government leaders to discuss monthly water and sewer bills that average about $350 and have reached $650 to $900 for some customers. Maryland Water Service, a Texas-based Nexus Water Group company, earlier this week refused to discuss the matter with the Cumberland Times-News. 'We're trying to figure out what all options we have,' Bennett said. 'On the surface, you commissioners can't necessarily affect this, but in cooperation with the feds and the state, we're gonna try to figure out what we can do.' Bennett said the county's state delegates agreed to discuss the matter with county officials after the current legislative session ends. 'People are getting hammered out there ... no doubt about it,' Commissioner Creade Brodie said of the water customers who have gone to extreme conservation measures. He recalled meeting with the water company's representatives several times in the past to ask about the high bills. 'You could never talk to the same people,' Brodie said. 'It was like trying to nail Jell-O down.' County officials said one of many unknowns is whether aging infrastructure contributes to the high water bills. 'There's a lot of questions,' board President Dave Caporale said, adding that he wants to know how and why the Maryland Public Service Commission 'weighed in on this,' and whether the state's attorney general is investigating the situation. Allegany County Director of Public Works Adam Patterson said Maryland Water Service buys its water from the county, which purchases the water from Cumberland. 'The cost that we purchase from Cumberland ... we mark up and then that' (pays the county's) transmission cost,' he said. 'What I'm seeing is (the water company officials) then mark it up again.' The commissioners agreed to arrange the meeting the residents requested. 'Getting everybody together to start that dialogue ... would help those folks out there at least know that everybody's trying to look into it, trying to see what we can do,' Commissioner Bill Atkinson said.
