Essential Utilities’ Aqua Ohio agrees to purchase URS system for $25.5M

Essential Utilities announced that its regulated water subsidiary, Aqua Ohio has signed an asset purchase agreement with Ohio’s Lawrence County Commissioners to purchase the Union Rome Sewer system which includes a wastewater collection network and treatment plant serving 5,300 connections in the southeast corner of the County for $25.5M. Aqua will play a key role in improving the system’s operations, which have been impacted by increasingly stringent regulatory requirements along with rising supply and material costs. In addition, Aqua’s business model enables the company to offer many of the benefits of larger organizations, such as staff engineers, a dedicated customer service team and customer assistance programs.Key elements of the agreement include: Aqua will pay Lawrence County $25.5M for the assets which will be used to retire debt relating to the system and other purposes, Aqua will invest an estimated $12.7M in the wastewater system over the next five years to meet regulatory and environmental demands, All URS employees will be offered employment at Aqua after passing customary background and drug screenings. Closing of the sale is anticipated during the summer of 2023 upon approval by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.