Educational resources on the importance of public water utilities and how privatization damages communities.

Water and Sewer Privatization is Hurting Customers

In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other states, investor-owned water/sewer utilities have recognized concern about PFAS chemicals and the backlog of repairs and upgrades in many water and sewer systems as a BIG opportunity — to make huge profits. In contrast to earlier periods in their history, investor-owned utilities (a.k.a. water/sewer corporations) have come to embrace the concept of shareholder primacy — that corporate boards must put shareholders first, ahead of all other stakeholders. Ahead of employees, ahead of customers, and ahead of communities. The belief in the primacy of shareholders drives corporate water/sewer utilities to use their considerable lobbying power to change water and sewer regulations and laws to make them more advantageous for privatizing government-owned public water and sewer systems. Read more.

Privatization in England: an Unmitigated Disaster

The British government privatized England’s water under Margaret Thatcher. It has been an unmitigated disaster. Maude Barlow and John Cartwright explain how Thames Water went from being a poster child privatization policies to a utility in deep trouble. Thames Water carries billions of dollars in unsustainable debt. It has dumped untreated sewage into English waterways. It kept raising customer water rates even as it was giving dividends to shareholders. One major Canadian pension fund had to write off $1 billion in debt as a result of its investment in Thames Water. Read more.

Smart Choices for Water and Sewer: a Guide for Local Officials and the Public

Local officials seeking a path forward for a water or sewer utility have many choices. Hire an operator. Share staff or resources with other public systems. Merge with a nearby system. Check out this video to find out more.

Guide: 10 questions to ask before any privatization deal

Asking the right questions is the first step to prioritizing public control and the common good and avoiding decisions that we’ll regret for years or, even, decades to come.

A Guide To Understanding and Evaluating Infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships in the Water Sector

This guide aims to help advocates, policymakers, and other stakeholders better understand and analyze water infrastructure project proposals, contracts, and related legislation. It describes critical issues and includes a list of key questions stakeholders can raise to ensure that a given project advances the public good

Is Wall Street coming for your town’s water?

Private equity investors are notoriously predatory and secretive. The last thing states and localities should be doing is making expensive, risky deals with shadowy private investors who often do more harm than good

Op-Ed: Who’s Profiting from Repairs to Aging water and Sewer Systems?

It may not always be apparent, but shareholder primacy seems to have guided many of the activities of investor-owned utilities in New Jersey and around the country

Egg Harbor City Ratepayers Won’t Benefit from Water/Sewer Sale in the Long Run

Egg Harbor City (EHC) is selling its tiny water and sewer system to a corporate utility for an eye-popping $21.8 million, largesse being underwritten by the rest of the corporation’s two million New Jersey customers. What goes around comes around, though. EHC ratepayers will help underwrite the cost of the next acquisition, and the one after that, and the one after that.

Corporate interests plot sneaky sewer system takeovers

Large corporations like Suez and American Water are aggressively targeting sewer systems for takeover. And in some cases, the public won’t even get a voice.

The story of water: Who controls the way we drink?

When corporations take control of public water systems, they put profit over people. Watch The Story of Water: Who Controls the Way We Drink? to see how cities across the United States are coming up with innovative ways to improve their systems and keep them out of corporate hands.

From Profit to Polity: A U.S. Water Utility’s Transition to a Government-Shareholder Model

The Pennichuck Corporation, located in New Hampshire, U.S., provides a unique opportunity to explore the rare structural transition from investor-ownership to a government-shareholder model for a long-standing regional water utility. 

Water Privatization Does Not Yield Cost Savings

Proponents of privatization consistently argue that it saves costs due to competitive pressures private providers face to be more efficient. Over the last four decades there has been considerable experimentation with privatization. Results are inconsistent. Some cases find savings; others do not.