I hope the city of Chester has not spent that $60 million windfall they were in line to get from the Chester Water Authority just yet.
Aqua Pennsylvania might have other plans.
You remember Aqua. They're the giant public utility that two years ago was looking to swallow up the private CWA, which serves that sparkling water from the Octoraro Reservoir to 42,000 customers in a couple dozen municipalities in both Chester and Delaware counties.
In fact, Aqua ponied up $320 million in an unsolicited bid to buy Chester Water. The CWA board rejected that offer, in part after getting an earful from the towns they serve and customers who feared a massive rate hike should Aqua be succesful. Aqua even pledged not to raise rates for a decade, but they still couldn't entice to board to accept their offer.
But Chester Water's problems weren't over. The city of Chester, struggling mightily to escape Act 47 distressed city status and having the state-appointed fiscal overseer whispering in their ear, started talking about who actually owned CWA and toying with the idea of selling off or at least part of the company to get the revenue they desperately needed.
Finally, Chester and Chester Water cut a deal. The water company would bail out the city to the tune of $60 million, while the city would forfeit the right to sell all or part of the company for 40 years. In order to raise the $60 million, the CWA Board voted to raise rates 10 percent. The board OK'd the deal and it's being looked at now by Chester City Council.
Everything's good, right?
Not exactly.
Aqua, which happens to be a Chester Water Authority customer, is not happy. They started making threatening noises about challenging the deal in court.
Yesterday the followed through on the threat, filing suit in Delaware County Common Pleas Court seeking to put the kibosh the deal. They filed the measure as a customer, saying they and many other customers are getting nothing out of the CWA-Chester deal and that the cost likely now will have to be passed along to Aqua customers.
So why do I get the feeling this is a jilted lover (in Aqua) that still has its eyes on the prize (Chester Water Authority)?
Now the whole thing will move to court.
You can get all the details here.
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