Connecticut Water Service (Connecticut Water) and SJW Group stated that the Maine Water Company (Maine Water), a subsidiary of Connecticut Water, has filed an application with the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) seeking approval of the previously announced merger of Connecticut Water and SJW Group.
Image: Maine Water applies with MPUC for merger approval of Connecticut Water Service with SJW Group. Photo: Courtesy of Arek Socha/Pixabay.
The new application shows that the merger provides immediate and long-term customer benefits, protects jobs, and serves the interests of Maine Water’s customers, employees and local communities.
The new application contains commitments to provide customer bill credits and continued investments in infrastructure, including investments in a new drinking water treatment facility in Biddeford, Maine that would replace the current facility, which is 135 years old and located in the Saco River’s flood zone.
Details on all the benefits for customers, employees and communities, and provisions that provide financial protections for Maine Water and its customers are detailed in the application filed with the MPUC and will be considered during MPUC’s regulatory review.
“We have committed that Maine Water customers will continue to be served by the same dedicated leadership team and local professional employees they know and trust,” said Richard Knowlton, President, Maine Water. “In the new application, we have also committed that there will be no job reductions as a result of our parent company’s proposed merger with SJW Group. Our people are passionate about delivering water service to their fellow Mainers, while protecting local water resources and the environment. The proposed merger will give Maine Water access to increased financial resources and industry expertise to deliver on this objective and better serve customers.”
“As a leading water utility, the combined company will have the financial strength, scale, resources and sharing of best practices to ensure families and communities will continue to receive safe and reliable water service across all of our operations and that we deliver the significant benefits of the transaction to our constituents in our local service areas in Maine, California, Connecticut and Texas,” said Eric Thornburg, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of SJW Group. “All of us understand and are guided by the understanding that drinking water is local and people feel connected to the water resources and water suppliers that serve their communities. Maine Water has a long tradition of service and investments in the 21 communities it serves, and the combination with SJW Group will only strengthen and deepen this local connection.”
As previously announced on April 3, 2019, Connecticut Water and SJW Group filed a joint merger approval application with the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (“PURA”). PURA has assigned Docket number 19-04-02 to that proceeding and has set a tentative final decision date on the application for July 31, 2019. SJW Group and Connecticut Water also will continue to work with the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) in response to the CPUC’s Order Instituting Investigation (“OII”) of the combination. The CPUC recently suspended its OII pending a final decision by PURA.
Source: Company Press Release