CHESTER, PA — In a direct letter to the Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority (DELCORA) board, the Chair of the Chester Water Authority (CWA) Board, Noël Brandon, calls on DELCORA to cancel its long-stalled 2019 agreement to sell its sewer system to Aqua Pennsylvania, citing changed circumstances, massive projected rate increases, and Aqua’s proposed acquisition by American Water.
Six years after DELCORA signed an Asset Purchase Agreement with Aqua, the sale has still not closed. In that time, every major justification cited in 2019 to support the sale has become moot. The costly “tunnel project” DELCORA sought to avoid is no longer needed. DELCORA’s concern that it would face an unaffordable renewal of its contract with the Philadelphia Water Department has proven unfounded; DELCORA renewed that contract in 2023 on highly favorable terms that extend well beyond 2028. The “rate stabilization trust” promoted by Aqua and DELCORA as a safeguard against rate shocks is illusory and unenforceable, offering no real protection to ratepayers.
While the original rationale for the sale has collapsed, the harm to ratepayers has only intensified. DELCORA customers currently pay approximately $33.28 per month for average residential sewer service. Aqua charges $103.09 per month for the same usage—more than a 300% increase. If the sale closes, DELCORA ratepayers will be forced onto Aqua’s substantially higher rates, with ongoing compounding increases and no corresponding improvement in service…