Friday, October 30, 2026
Town of Hempstead residents serviced by Liberty Utilities, a private company that provides water to some 110,000 residents along Long Island’s South Shore, are expressing outrage over Liberty’s proposal to increase rates by as much as nearly $30 per month. The request was filed by the utility company with New York state’s Public Service Commission “to help maintain the delivery of safe, reliable water while balancing customer affordability through responsible control,” according to a notice posted on Liberty’s website in May.
The proposed rate change would hike monthly bills for residential customers using 8,000 gallons of water per month by $27.77 in Liberty’s Lynbrook service area and $21.20 in Merrick, revenue increases of 21.87 and 30.14 percent, respectively.
The Merrick district includes parts of Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh and Seaford.
“These rate increases are unconscionable,” Debra Lutz, a Liberty customer, wrote in a written statement filed with the PSC. “This has been a fight for a very long time … I implore you to strongly consider how detrimental these increases will be to both the hard-working and retired citizens of this community.”
Liberty last implemented a rate increase on Sept. 1, 2024, approved the year prior by the PSC.
According to Liberty, the rate increase would support infrastructure improvements and new programs intended to benefit customers, and address requirements related to emerging contaminants. Infrastructure upgrades would include iron removal, lead service line replacements and water main replacements. Treatment programs would also be established for PFAS/PFOA — synthetic chemicals that do not break down easily in the environment or the human body.
“Our proposed investments represent what is necessary to maintain and improve our system,” Deborah Franco, president of Liberty’s New York water branch, said, “and we remain committed to managing expenses responsibly while continuing to provide safe, reliable service.”
The rate increase would also allow Liberty to create customer programs, including an enhanced debt management program that would expand forgiveness of late payments to all eligible customers and eliminate electronic payment transaction fees.
The PSC suspended Liberty’s first bid for the increase in June, according to a memo sent to the company, deferring the issue to Oct. 30. The deferment allowed for an extended public comment period, giving residents and advocacy groups more time to submit statements and testimonies opposing the proposed changes. With the deadline approaching, Liberty customers are renewing calls for the PSC to reject the proposal.
For years, ratepayers have been attempting to orchestrate a takeover of Liberty under the South Nassau Water Authority, a public entity created by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2021. But progress has been slow, advocates say, and five years later, Liberty still manages the area’s water supply.
“Liberty’s rates are already too high,” Claudia Borecky, co-director of Long Island Clean Air Water Soil, a South Shore advocacy group based in Merrick, said in written testimony submitted to the PSC on Sept. 29.
Borecky, a Merrick resident and Liberty customer, has led the opposition against private water providers in her community for decades. Public water providers are eligible for state and federal grants, Borecky explained, which help fund equipment and infrastructure upgrades. Additionally, because Liberty is a private company, it must pay property taxes for the land on which its Merrick headquarters and additional facilities are located. The cost of those property taxes are passed on to residents.
Borecky said that Liberty’s proposal would disproportionally impact other entities, including schools, fire departments, libraries and parks — all of which receive and use water on a regular basis.
Dave Denenberg, who co-directs Long Island Clean Air Water Soil with Borecky, is an environmental engineer, an attorney and a former Nassau County legislator. While in the Legislature, Denenberg represented communities that were serviced by the Freeport and the Town of Hempstead water departments — both public providers — as well as Liberty’s predecessor, New York American Water.
“I saw the difference in service, price and quality,” Denenberg, who is also a Liberty customer, said.
In her written testimony, Borecky urged the PSC to consider the “substantial burden” the rate increases would have on Liberty’s customers. “Ratepayers should not be required to finance costs that may ultimately benefit a private corporation and its shareholders,” she said, “particularly when public water systems are negotiating to purchase a system for which ratepayers are already being charged for improvements.”
The PSC will hold virtual hearings on Dec. 2, at 1 and 5 p.m. To review the proposal and public comments, or to submit a comment before the hearing, visit Documents.DPS.NY.gov and search Case No. 26-W-0358.
