Aqua America, Inc. (Aqua) announced today that its Pennsylvania
subsidiary, Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc., has acquired the assets of the
Athens Township Authority in Bradford County, which will enable Aqua to
complete a public-private partnership that will include approximately $1
million of additional transmission main being contributed by the local
economic development agency, the potential for additional customers
outside of those already served by the Authority, the revenues from a
bulk water sales contract to a new distribution center being built
across the state border in New York, and a 20-year professional services
agreement.
Aqua Pennsylvania paid $70,000 for the assets, which include 17,000 feet
of transmission main and a 433,000-gallon tank. Concurrent with the
acquisition, Aqua Pennsylvania has executed new bulk water sales
contract with a New York municipal corporation, Chemung County
Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA) to provide water service to a new
commercial pharmaceutical warehouse in Chemung Township, Chemung County,
New York via a $1.2 million, 9,650-foot pipeline extension that will
connect the newly acquired Athens water system to the metered connection
for the bulk water sales agreement with CCIDA, which is subject to
approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. The new main,
currently being installed within Athens Township, Bradford County, will
be donated to Aqua Pennsylvania by CCIDA. Aqua’s non-regulated
subsidiary, Aqua Resources, Inc., has also entered into a 20-year
professional services agreement with CCIDA to provide operational
services for CCIDA’s New York system.
The route of the new main will benefit the owners of approximately 75
residential properties that abut the main by affording them the
potential to obtain public water from Aqua Pennsylvania. The new main
might also allow residents of a nearby housing development the
opportunity to access public water service for their community, which is
currently served by private wells.
"We are very pleased with this public-private partnership as it provides
Aqua Pennsylvania with growth opportunities and allows us to partner
with the CCIDA to help stimulate economic development in a neighboring
area,” said Aqua America Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis.
Aqua America is a publicly traded water and wastewater utility holding
company with operating subsidiaries serving approximately three
million
people in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New
Jersey, New York, Florida, Indiana, Virginia, Maine, Missouri, South
Carolina and Georgia. Aqua America is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbol WTR.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that address, among
other things, the effect of the acquisition of the described business,
and possible benefits from the acquired operations. There are important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including: the
risk that the acquired company’s business will not be successfully
integrated; the risk that the pipeline will not be completed as
projected or have the indicated benefits; that potential customers might
not connect to the water system; that Aqua Pennsylvania will receive
regulatory approval of its bulk water sales agreement; the costs related
to the transaction; the risk that anticipated benefits will not be
obtained or will not be obtained within the time anticipated; and other
factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2008, which is on file with the SEC. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.
WTRF
