RANSOM, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Illinois American Water President Bruce Hauk, today announced the Company’s acquisition of the Village of Ransom water system. The purchase of the system adds approximately 170 customers to the Company’s customer base in the Streator District and serves a population of nearly 370 residents.
The Village of Ransom Board voted in favor of the sale on Sept. 9, 2015 and the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) approved the sale for $175,000 on Feb. 24, 2016. Today, Illinois American Water acquired the water system.
“We look forward to investing in the Village of Ransom and ensuring customers have access to quality water service,” said Hauk. “We are excited to join and contribute to the Ransom community.”
Acting Village of Ransom President Matt Hauser is also enthusiastic in his support of the acquisition. He said, “We are looking forward to Illinois American Water joining our community and helping us meet our water needs. Their knowledge and ability to provide reliable water service to our residents is an investment in our public health and economic future.”
Currently the drinking water in Ransom has exceedingly high levels of Radium. Bottled water will continue to be distributed at Village Hall until the Village of Ransom is connected to Illinois American Water’s Streator District water distribution system. This investment of approximately $2 million to install 10 miles of water main will ensure quality drinking water that meets all EPA requirements. Barring no unforeseen circumstances, this project is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
Additional information will be provided to customers in an Illinois American Water welcome packet in the mail. This packet will include information about online account management, billing and more. Typical water service customers use between 4,500 and 6,000 gallons of water per month. A Village of Ransom customer using 5,000 gallons a month will pay approximately $45 for water service. This is a decrease of about $8 a month.
The appraisal process used for the Ransom water system was conducted under the supervision of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) and established as part of the Illinois Water Systems Viability Act. According to Hauk, this new law gives communities an alternative to value their water and/or wastewater system when considering being acquired by an investor-owned water utility. He said, “Previous law only allowed the investor-owned water or sewer utility to pay the original cost minus depreciation to acquire a small system, public or private. Because of this, systems were deprived of receiving adequate value for their system.”
The Ransom water system will be incorporated into the company’s Streator District, which currently serves residents in Streator, Kangley, Reading, Dana, Long Point and Ancona.
About Illinois American Water
Illinois American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 1.2 million people. American Water also operates a customer service center in Alton and a quality control and research laboratory in Belleville. American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company. Marking its 130th anniversary this year, the company employs 6,700 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services to an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada. More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.
