Residents blast New York American Water rate hikes, lawmakers call for probes

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Twelve-year Island Park resident Catherine Hall said the problem started when a New York American Water employee came unannounced to install a replacement water meter at her house early in July. At the time, she said, “I was fine with it. I had no problem. I thought, ‘Why not?’”

In June, the utility charged her $55, but when Hall’s bill for July arrived, she said she was astounded to see that it had jumped to $200. In a household that since last summer had installed low-water-use toilets and removed sprinklers, and whose residents don’t drink tap water, she said she found it hard to believe that she had used more water than in previous years. Last July, her water bill was $88.

“It’s like we’re being held hostage,” she said of the monopoly New York American Water holds over water distribution on the South Shore. “And if you don’t pay they shut it off.”

After she called to complain about the rate hike, Hall said, a NYAW representative told her a leaky faucet could be the culprit, but after finding none, the company agreed to send another employee to check the replacement meter.

“I quite liked that the water bill was the one that wasn’t scary to open,” she said. The electric bill could spike in the summer and the gas bill in the winter, she said, but no matter the time of the year, “the water bills have always been consistently low.”

Hall remarked that as a stay-at-home mom whose husband is a successful businessman, her family was fortunate that they could absorb the added expense. But in one of the highest-taxed areas in the nation, she said she worried how single parents, people working multiple jobs to make ends meet and retirees living on a fixed income would survive with this added expense.

This was the case for Maureen Blaum, a retiree living in East Rockaway. In March her water bill was $121, but when New York American Water changed her meter the next month, it jumped to $249, and in July it was $315.

“We have three people living in the household, and we have a sprinkler system, but we’ve had it for years. Nothing is different from last year,” Blaum said. “The only thing I should say is different is that they put in a new meter.”

She said that with her fixed income and medical bills, the skyrocketing water bills seemed unfair. “It’s not right to subject people to such fees,” she said. “I could understand it going up gradually, but this much? There’s something wrong here.”

She said she was not alone, and that there were a number of people in the area complaining about skyrocketing water bills.

Nearby, in Oceanside, Ellen DeFrancesco, who is a self-described “eco-friendly nut,” said last year she paid $103 in July for water, and kept records of her usage. This July, she used roughly 100 fewer gallons, but was charged $125 — a 21 percent increase.

DeFrancesco said she had not had her meter replaced, and after hearing stories such as Blaum’s and Hall’s, she does not want a new one. “There’s nothing wrong with my meter,” she said. “People are calling me to check the meter, but I don’t want someone to come and check my meter.”

She, too, was critical of the utility’s dominance in the area.

“They have us at a complete disadvantage. We can’t go to another water company. There’s nothing we can do,” she said. “This is not a luxury item. This isn’t like cable, I can’t say, ‘You know what, I’m not going to pay my water bill because they’re acting this way.’”

DeFrancesco added that with the high cost of living, the hikes could be the final “nail in the coffin” forcing people to leave Nassau County.

Lawmakers sound off

Responding to a litany of complaints sent to their offices by residents, lawmakers announced their intention to ensure New York American Water’s rate hikes were performed legally.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach, and Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen, a Democrat from Rockville Centre, released a joint letter on July 27, asking the Public Service Commission — the state body in charge of approving utility rate hikes — to investigate New York American Water’s practices.

The two wrote that many residents were told “that they must have a leak or other faulty mechanisms,” but that in almost every case there was no leak or other problem. “When pressed for an explanation, American Water told our offices that these customers must be increasing their water usage.” But much like Hall, Blaum and DeFrancesco, their constituents, Gillen and Kaminsky said, maintain that their water use has either remained flat or increased only slightly.

Additionally, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office confirmed that it would audit the Public Service Commission, but that because New York American Water is a private company, investigators lacked the authority to audit the utility itself.

“Our auditors intend to look at some issues related to American Water as part of a current audit of PSC enforcement of contractual agreements and state laws and regulations,” DiNapoli spokeswoman Jennifer Freeman said. “We cannot audit private companies, nor can we address water rates.”

Assembly members Brian Curran and Melissa Miller posted a video to their social media pages on Aug. 2, which said that they had spoken to New York American Water President Carmen Tierno that day, and revealed that the utility was undertaking its own investigation of the hikes.

“The results of our analysis and testing will be shared transparently with our customers and stakeholders,” Tierno said in an emailed statement.

Curran said the NYAW’s investigation will be done in phases. The first, which has already been completed, is confirming that the New York American Water’s billing program is working properly. “There is no problem with the billing program, and the bills are correct,” Curran, a Republican from Lynbrook, said.

The second phase will look at water consumption rates in the area and compare them with the company’s revenue. If no discrepancies are found, then New York American Water will address the more than 400 complaints it has received on the South Shore on a case-by-case basis, Curran said.

Finally, he said, the utility would seek to educate the public about the four-year rate increase that went into effect on June 1, 2017, and increased New York American Water’s revenue by $3.6 million, according to a news release on the utility’s website. The increase was approved to offset the more than $136 million that the utility spent on upgrading treatment and distribution facilities.

“That is a significant factor, I believe and what American Water believes, for the rate increase that we’re seeing,” Curran said.

But the investigations are cold comfort for customers such as Blaum, who criticized the need for NYAW to pursue a profit margin amid infrastructure upgrades.

“Maybe the water company shouldn’t be a private company,” she said. “We can’t live without it. This is highway robbery is what it is.”