Ciresi opposes Aqua’s proposed wastewater rate hike for Limerick customers
Rep. Joseph Ciresi August 26, 2021 | 4:34 PM
HARRISBURG, Aug. 26 – Taking a stand for 5,000 households he represents in Limerick Township, Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-Montgomery, submitted a public comment opposing the proposed rate increase by Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater Inc., saying that the utility’s large and abrupt rate increase would amount to a doubling of rates for most of the township’s wastewater customers and would impose significant financial hardship on many.
The proposed rate increase is the first opportunity Aqua Pennsylvania has had to raise the rates as fees had been frozen for the first three years as part of the agreement between Limerick Township and Aqua Pennsylvania at the time of sale in 2018.
In his public comment, Ciresi noted that when Aqua Pennsylvania purchased the sewer system from Limerick Township in 2018, the president of the utility had called the Limerick sewer system “compliant and well-maintained.” In his public comment, Ciresi questioned how a well-maintained sewer system would require a doubling of service rates.
“It is unimaginable that the cost of providing sewer service — through an already well-maintained system — to Limerick Township residents has more than doubled in those three years,” he said.
As a public servant representing a vulnerable population hit hard by the pandemic, Ciresi has taken a stand against the proposed rate increase.
“Aqua Pennsylvania wants to raise the average Limerick resident’s sewer bill from $35.36 to $72.94 to provide the same service they have received for years,” Ciresi said. “This astronomical rate increase would pose a significant burden on a public either still dealing with or recovering from the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and would be particularly punishing on our many senior citizens who live on fixed incomes. I’m urging the PUC to reject this rate increase request.”