At the end of this year’s lame duck legislative session, the Senate passed a bill creating a “Resiliency and Environmental System Investment Charge Program” (RESIC), which would provide corporate-owned water systems a way to raise rates without key consumer protections. 

The bill – a version of which has already passed the Assembly – would allow utilities to raise rates to cover certain proposed expenses without the usual oversight of the Board of Public Utilities and Rate Counsel.

In response, Food & Water Watch Senior Organizer Kate Delany released the following statement: 

“This bill is one more giveaway to the private water industry. Corporate operators already charge ratepayers almost 80 percent more than publicly-owned utilities. This bill would only make it easier for them to raise rates on residents and small businesses. There is simply no reason to give greedy operators another way to bypass vital consumer protections and soak ratepayers. Governor Murphy should stand up for water affordability and veto the RESIC bill.”