The Town of Cape Charles has officially submitted its application to the State Corporation Commission paving the way for Virginia American Water’s acquisition of the Town’s water and wastewater utilities. From the Town Manager report, “Getting the application together took much longer than we originally anticipated. I worked with our appraiser to develop a summary document of the appraisal last week that completed the last of the requirements. SCC staff will now review the materials for completeness, and once accepted, the formal discovery process will begin. There is no set time for this application to run its course, but we estimate it will take approximately 6 more months to get through the rest of the process”.
There are still many unknowns. Will the costs go up or down? Face it, private corporations must prioritize profits and may charge higher prices for water services to maximize their returns. This can result in increased costs for consumers, making water less affordable, especially for fixed-income households.
VAW, as a private enterprise, is driven by commercial interests, which may lead to reduced transparency and accountability in managing water resources. Decision-making processes and financial information may be shielded from public scrutiny, limiting the ability of citizens to participate in important water-related discussions.
The big issue is the loss of public control and democratic decision-making; privatizing water utilities means transferring control and decision-making power from the public sector to private entities. This can limit the ability of citizens to shape water policies, set service standards, and prioritize public interests over profit motives.
Note: It is what it is now, so we are hoping for the best. VAW has proven to be a decent neighbor across the state so the impacts of privatization may be limited given the regulatory frameworks the town has attempted to put into place.
That said, the Mirror would be remiss in not highlighting some of the potential downsides associated with selling off public water/wastewater utilities.
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Appreciate the summary of risks that need to be understood and dealt with. An additional perspective focusing on the value of privatization is safety and modernization – since the private firm can share best practice lessons learned across their broader network.
Sen King recently spoke to the senate and clearly stated that rural water systems are a major national security risk because of their vulnerability — particularly as sensors and modern technology is being introduced. High quality private firms with their broader resources and sophistication can reduce that risk. The National Rural Water Association is directly addressing this issue.
Here we go again