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PEOPLE SHOULD SEE PRIVATIZATION FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS. A SCAM

NPWA Executive Director, Tony Bellitto, Testifies in front of PA House Committee

December 14, 2023- Lansdale, Pa.- On Tuesday, December 12, 2023, Anthony J. Bellitto, executive director of North Penn Water Authority, testified in Harrisburg in front of the House of Representatives’ Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee to support the amendment of Act 12, and reiterate the benefits of keeping authorities publicly owned.

Bellitto’s powerful message has been received far-and-wide with a clip of his testimony receiving 4.6 million views and counting. https://x.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1734608783823847638?s=20

In his closing statement, Bellitto said “…I would state that people should see privatization for what it really is. A scam. It is a loan disguised as a gift wrapped up with empty promises and must be paid back with interest through exorbitant rate increases resulting in no better service for the customers while the private company’s upper management and investors fill their own pockets with obscene amounts of profits and they laugh all the way to the bank.”

In 2016, Act 12 — sponsored by former State Rep. Robert Godshall — passed the Pennsylvania House and Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf. This act allows private utility/for profit companies to buy public utilities at a higher cost to residents. Since then, private water companies and utilities have swept through Pennsylvania, buying up smaller public utilities that are often in good shape and well-maintained and offering huge up-front payments to municipalities.

Bellitto said, “…Act 12 has been called a fair market value. There is nothing fair about it. It’s actually predatory pricing. It’s an odd situation when both the buyer and the seller have incentive for the price being as high as possible because the buyer is going to get that back in full with interest… It’s the continuous stream of customers they are actually purchasing. That has the value. One way to put it is that they’re purchasing not only the eggs but the goose that lays the golden eggs. They’re purchasing that customer base.” Bellitto continued with “Act 12 should be modified by adding a voter referendum so that the rate paying customers have the opportunity to voice whether or not they are in favor of privatization, and number 2 the scope should be to deal with only distressed systems which are financially troubled and which are operationally deficient. Those are criteria that can actually be quantified.”

View Tony’s entire testimony here: https://youtu.be/PqX11B1m0Ts?t=1435

For more information or to speak with Tony Bellitto about Act 12 and the benefits of Authority ownership, please call 215-855-3617 x130.

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About North Penn Water Authority

Established in 1965, North Penn Water Authority (NPWA) is a municipally owned, nonprofit Authority with a dedicated, professional workforce committed to providing the community with a safe, reliable, and economical water supply.  Water supplied to their customers comes from both a surface water supply that is treated at the state of the art Forest Park Water Treatment Plant (FPWTP) and from groundwater wells located throughout the service area. To provide the highest quality water, the Authority has in place a main replacement program and performs annual flushing of its more than 595 miles of water main which serves more than 35,000 customers.  NPWA also owns and maintains all fire hydrants in the service area to ensure hydrants are in working order in case of fire emergencies. NPWA employees, many of whom are NPWA customers themselves, take pride in being able to provide this service to the community. For more information, please visit www.npwa.org or call 215-855-3617.