Who is RWE?

RWE is one of the largest energy corporations in the world. Listed as #78 on the Global Fortune 500 list, RWE brings in annual revenues of $50 billion. Based in Essen, Germany, RWE owns more than 640 subsidiaries worldwide. In 2000, RWE purchased Britain’s largest water corporation, Thames Water, and in 2003, RWE purchased the United States’ largest private water corporation, American Water.

The Problem

When RWE purchased American Water in 2003, CEO Harry Roels made a commitment that RWE would be a long-term partner with the communities his corporation serves. Less than three years later, RWE is saying “Auf Wiedersehen”: the company is selling American Water, leaving communities in 27 U.S. states and 3 Canadian provinces in the dark about the future of their water utilities after siphoning nearly $150 million through often drastic rate increases. So far, RWE and American Water executives have refused to negotiate with elected officials and citizens. Flip this page for a partial list of RWE’s misconduct in the U.S.

The Solution

To avoid a replay of the problems RWE started, communities from Urbana, Illinois to Lexington, Kentucky are pursuing local ownership of water. Local ownership means more affordable rates, better customer service, and direct accountability to customers and voters. Local ownership also means your money stays in your community, and it’s better for the environment.

Our Demands

ReWirE American Water! We demand that RWE negotiate fairly with cities and communities interested in purchasing their local water utility. Having learned from communities’ experiences with RWE, we demand that our local and state elected officials stand up for local ownership of water everywhere.

What You Can Do

1. Sign the Pledge for Local Ownership of Water as an individual or on behalf of your organization. Ask your friends and organizations you know to sign the Pledge. Mail signed pledges to the address below. You can also take action at www.foodandwaterwatch.org.
2. Call your Mayor or Council member. Tell him/her that you support local ownership of water.
3. Write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper explaining why you support local ownership of water. Submit your writing as an article for your faith and/or community group’s newsletter as well.
4. Investigate who controls the water utility in your community.
5. Report your great work to the ReWirE American Water! Campaign. Contact info below.

Mail or fax signed Pledges and hard copies of articles/letters to the editor to:

Victoria Kaplan
National Organizer, Food & Water Watch
1400 16th St NW, Suite 225, Washington, DC 20036
T: 202.797.6556 | F: 202.797.6560
water[at]fwwatch.org

Call or email us to share your story and connect with other concerned citizens in your area.
Visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org for updated news and actions.


The following cities have said, Enough is Enough! Citizens and elected officials are working towards a local purchase of their water utility, which RWE is looking to sell by 2007. The list is growing! Below, you’ll find some of the reasons why they feel that local ownership is better for their communities.

• Felton, California
• Monterey, California
• Champaign, Illinois
• Pekin, Illinois
• Urbana, Illinois
• Gary, Indiana
• Lexington, Kentucky
• Chattanooga, Tennessee

Day to Day Operations

• Under RWE, Illinois American Water has issued five boil water notices in four months in Champaign, Illinois.
• When firefighters in Urbana, Illinois arrived on the scene to put out a fire, the hydrants did not work.
• Because of job cuts, there is a lack of engineers on site.

Rates and Affordability

• Under RWE, American Water has increased rates $148 million. This is RWE’s main strategy to boost profits.
• In West Virginia, West Virginia-American Water rates are nearly twice as high as the state average.
• Citizens in at least 11 states have protested American Water’s unusually high rate increases.

Customer Service

• Customers have reported poor customer service in several states, due to the company's decision to centralize customer service centers in Alton, Illinois and Pensacola, Florida.
• The Mayor of Chattanooga, TN was unable to connect via phone to his local water treatment facility recently, and was told that in a case of emergency the customer service representative would merely file a report.

Environment

• California American Water has been illegally over-pumping the Carmel River for more than a decade. The river provides habitat for the endangered West Coast steelhead and the California red-legged frog.
• In England, RWE’s water company was named England’s worst polluter two out of three years running.

Employment

• Employees are uncertain of the future of their jobs. On Nov. 9, 2005, the CEO of Aqua America said in response to RWE's announced sale of American Water, "It does not bode well with employees to be bought and sold in a five-year period twice. So I think that hurts our industry."
• A former employee reported that when RWE purchased American Water, the management shake-up resulted in veteran employees losing their jobs and under-qualified staff promoted to management positions.

Local Authority and Oversight

• RWE's subsidiaries have spent millions of dollars fighting political battles. In Monterey, CA, California American Water spent more than twice as much money on a campaign as had been spent on any previous campaign in Monterey's history. Cal-Am outspent a citizen’s group 10 to 1 to defeat a proposal to study a public buyout of the private system.
  
• In Lexington, Kentucky, American Water interfered with democracy by using the Kentucky Supreme Court to stop a public vote on who should own the water company.