RWE’s Selling? We’re Buying!

in the spotlight
Mayor Laurel Prussing of Urbana, Illinois, addresses RWE shareholders and executives at the company’s annual meeting in Essen, Germany in 2006.

The following cities and communities are just a few of those working for local ownership of water:

Felton, California

In September 2005, 74.8% of voters in Felton, near Santa Cruz, CA, approved an $11 million bond measure to purchase their water system from RWE’s California American Water. Organizers of the local group Felton FLOW say that the campaign has rallied neighbors together unlike anything the town has experienced before.

Monterey, California

California American Water outspent a citizen’s group 10:1 to fight an initial study of a local purchase of their water utility, making its’ corporate campaign the most expensive in the history of the Monterey Peninsula. The Monterey FLOW Coalition and Monterey Citizens for Public Water continue to pursue local ownership and are working on state legislation that would give their city the right of first refusal when the water company is for sale.

Homer Glen, Orland Hills and Bolingbrook, Illinois

Rep. Renee Kosel (R-New Lenox) went to bat for her constituents when they began receiving faulty water bills of up to $1500! Dozens of ratepayers from Chicago’s suburbs have filed complaints about RWE’s Illinois-American Water, and have helped Rep. Kosel pass state legislation that makes it easier for the community to buy their water utility.

Urbana, Champaign and Pekin, Illinois

Inoperable fire hydrants, boiled water alerts, rate hikes. After RWE took over Illinois-American water, customer service plummeted. So these three cities in central Illinois, along with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, formed a coalition to pursue a joint purchase of their local utilities.

Gary, Indiana

In his State of the City Address on Feb. 16, 2006, Mayor Scott L. King said, “I do not want decisions made on an essential as important as water (based on) what benefits international shareholders and not local taxpayers,” he said. “We have to look at the cost and benefit of buying the water company.” He called on municipalities in Northwest Indiana to pursue a local purchase of their share of Indiana American Water.
 

Lexington, Kentucky

“Local ownership is a slam-dunk business decision,” said W.T. Young, a former board member of the Kentucky American Water Company. That’s why a diverse group of business owners, environmental groups, former elected officials, and ordinary citizens formed Bluegrass FLOW (For Local Ownership of Water) to purchase their utility from RWE’s local subsidiary. Though the corporation used the Kentucky Supreme Court to stop a public vote on the issue in November 2005, the tallies from a few early absentee ballots trickled in before the Court’s decision: 77 in favor of local ownership, 22 against. No wonder the corporation was afraid of local democracy!

In 2004, Kentucky American Water notified the Public Service Commission that it planned to spend $2.71 million to influence city officials and defeat the local control movement. On November 7, 2006, Lexingtonians finally had their chance to vote. Click here to read our press release on the Lexington referendum.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

When Mayor Ron Littlefield tried to call Tennessee American Water’s local wastewater facility, he was connected to a customer service representative in Illinois who told him there was no local number. When he asked what would happen in case of emergency, the rep said that the call center would merely file a report. He has appointed a panel to pursues local ownership

Charleston, West Virginia

Customers served by RWE’s West Virginia American Water pay rates nearly twice as high as publicly owned utilities statewide. Mayor Danny Smith told a reporter at the Charleston Gazette, "We feel the water company is a valuable resource. We want to keep this resource in the hands of West Virginians." He is looking into the benefits of local ownership.