Liberty completes purchase of NY American Water

Liberty Utilities on Monday completed the purchase of New York American Water in a $608 million deal that closes the door on one of the region’s more contentious utility-customer sagas.

Liberty in a statement said it plans to "bring the customer service function back to Long Island" as a result of the deal in a move the company said would "increase local employment and improve the quality of service provided to customers."

The new company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Algonquin Power & Utilities of Canada, is now called Liberty Utilities (New York Water) Corp., said spokeswoman Stephanie Bose, and Liberty is now the customer-facing name. The company's new website says, "New York American Water is now Liberty." The company has said it will continue to employ existing employees and managers for at least two years.

Chris Alario, Liberty New York's newly named president, is based in Merrick, Bose said. American Water will "continue to provide payment services" for New York customers, the website states.

Liberty agreed to hold rates stable at least through 2023 as part of a settlement with the state Public Service Commission, whose commissioners last month approved the deal but said issues such as high property taxes remain to be addressed to lower customer bills.

PSC approval included stipulations for the new company to launch a customer-service improvement plan, which included 14 new staff positions, and conduct a customer satisfaction survey after a year. It also required the new company create low-income assistance programs to identify needy customers and help those with past-due bills.

The PSC approval also included a stipulation that Liberty negotiate in good faith with entities, including two new Nassau water authorities, the Massapequa Water District and the Village of Sea Cliff, in their efforts to take public portions of the Nassau water system, which serves more than 120,000 customers from East Rockaway to Sea Cliff.

The PSC approval also included $23.5 million in funding from Liberty to limit the impact of past rate hikes the company agreed to forestall because of the COVID pandemic and other factors.

Meanwhile, Bruce Kennedy, Sea Cliff Village administrator and president of North Shore Concerned Citizens, said he's expecting mayors and the Oyster Bay Town supervisor to nominate directors for a new North Shore Water Authority board in coming weeks. After that, he said, the authority will "notify the new [Liberty] entity of our intent to take over" the approximately 4,500-customer operation on the North Shore.

"We're looking to put together a rather robust team that can move this forward," Kennedy said. He's been in contact with existing public water utilities, including those in Jericho, Roslyn and Massapequa, to determine whether the North Shore authority will contract out management of the system or take on the work itself.

Either way, said Kennedy, "I'm hoping to have a fruitful negotiation [with Liberty], and I look forward to working together to complete this transaction to take over the North Shore water district."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.