An animated debate held last month on the long-term effects of fair market value legislation on the rates paid by water and wastewater consumers in Pennsylvania has the potential to check the progress of one of the biggest growth engines for investor-owned utilities in the state. While Tanya McCloskey, representing the Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), understandably decried the rapidly rising premia being paid to acquire municipal systems in the state, perhaps the biggest surprise on the day was the testimony of former York Water CEO Jeff Hines. Although insistent that his observations were his own and not those of his former company, Hines's insistence that the fair market value system forces ratepayers to pay twice (once for the initial premium and again for subsequent system upgrades) was the first time a representative from the investor-owned utility universe had aired such vehement criticism in a public forum. With York Water still bitter after being outbid by American Water in the battle to acquire the wastewater system in its home city of York, there was widespread feeling that Hines was acting as an unofficial spokesman for the company he once ran, despite his assertions of independence.
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