Aquarion Water Company, which has provided water to Norfolk for more than half a century, may soon become the property of the South Central Regional Water Authority. The Representative Policy Board of the water authority will hold public hearings Thursday, August 22, at 7:00 p.m., and Tuesday, August 27, at 10:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., about a possible purchase of Aquarion from its current owner, Eversource Energy.
The in-person hearings will be held at the Hotel Marcel, 500 Sargent Drive, New Haven. All users of the RWA and Aquarion Water Company, owners of property served or to be served, and other interested persons can be heard. Submit questions by emailing jslubowski@rwater.com or calling 203-401-2515.
Parts of the hearings dealing with confidential matters will be conducted in executive session.
Aquarion, an outgrowth of the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, began supplying water to Norfolk in the early 1960s, when the parent company acquired five Litchfield County water companies, has since expanded to provide drinking water in 59 towns and cities in Connecticut. It was acquired by Eversource in 2017 for $1.675 billion.
Earlier this year, Eversource announced plans to divest itself of Aquarion to offset heavy losses from investments in clean energy. Aquarion is reported to be an asset that can be sold without affecting Eversource’s core business of energy transmission.
The South Central Regional Water Authority was created in 1977 by a special act of the state General Assembly to meet a crisis created by passage of the federal Clean Drinking Water Act in 1974. The New Haven Water Company had to build water filtration plants to meet the requirements of the act and was faced with selling off real estate or raising water rates. The company opted to sell land. Surrounding communities protested and the state legislature created a commission that recommended formation of a publicly owned regional water company.