Essential Utilities (formerly Aqua America and Peoples Natural Gas) is an American utility company that has stakes in

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and

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Aqua America About Us Page
/ref> The company provides drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure and services. Essential Utilities is the publicly traded ($WTRG) parent company that oversees the continued business of Aqua America and Peoples Natural Gas, who both continue to do business under their original names. The company began in Pennsylvania and remains headquartered in Bryn Mawr along with the water utility side of the business while the natural gas company People's is headquartered in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

History

Springfield Water Company pumping Station 1899

The company began January 4, 1886, by the founding of the Springfield Water Company. The company changed its name to the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company (PSW). By 1925 the company provided water to 58 municipalities. The company was incorporated in 1989. The current CEO, Christopher H. Franklin, took his position in 2015. The company partners with Penn Virginia operating subsidiaries to provide water to

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...

operations in the Marcellus Shale formation. The company commits to transitioning its Pennsylvania vehicle fleet to

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...

(CNG) within five years.

Acquisitions

In the United States, many water utilities remain government-owned. Water was supplied by 55,000 separate water systems in 2006. However, US and global companies have business models which involve the privatization of utilities to achieve profitability from economy of scale. Additionally, cash-strapped municipalities see benefit to selling their water supply assets. From 1993 to 2013 Aqua America completed 300 acquisitions. In recent years the company has purchased smaller private utilities across the 12 states, gradually extending southward. Such acquisition comprises the bulk of Aqua America's stated business model. In January 1998 Aqua America, then known as the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company (PSW) purchased the

West Chester, PA West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the 2010 census. West Chester is the mailing address for most of its neighb ...

municipal water utility assets. Acquisitions of large private companies included the purchases of AquaSource in 2003, Heater and Florida Water Services in 2004, and the New York Water Service Corporation in 2007. In October 2018 Aqua announced that it was going to purchase Peoples Natural Gas in Pittsburgh PA for $4.27 billion. This deal entered Aqua into the competitive Pittsburgh water market while taking their first step into gas utilities.

Subsidiaries

The company's largest subsidiary is Aqua Pennsylvania, which has been a part of Aqua America since 1996 and accounts for slightly more than half of 2007 operating revenue and provides water services to 50% of the company's total customer base. Aqua Pennsylvania operates in the greater urban and suburban Philadelphia area. The non-utility subsidiary Aqua Resources, Inc. is not regulated. They provide operations and maintenance contracts, liquid waste hauling, and water and wastewater system maintenance and repair.

References

External links

* {{authority control, state=expanded Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Water companies of the United States Companies based in Pennsylvania American companies established in 1886

History

Acquisitions

Subsidiaries

See also

References

External links