This story first appeared in Talk of the Town, a free weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, unique events and natural beauty from north-central PA’s communities. Sign up at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown.
FERGUSON TOWNSHIP — The owner of a troubled water company in rural Centre County says he wants to sell his family’s 77-year-old business, which could avoid a lengthy process by state regulators to force a sale to improve service.
Rock Spring Water Company President J. Roy Campbell said he’d prefer to settle the case, brought by the investigative arm of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
“We’d like to get it sold before the year’s out,” he told the judge during an Oct. 30 prehearing conference.
A June Spotlight PA investigation found that Rock Spring, state regulators and elected officials failed the roughly 1,000 customers who rely on the 20-mile water system in Ferguson Township. Years of neglect led to crumbling infrastructure, low water pressure, regular outages and sometimes lengthy boil water advisories.
Issues with the company were referred to the Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement, a division within the Public Utility Commission, on May 23. The unit then launched a review of the company, citing its history of regulatory violations and an ongoing legal battle with the Department of Environmental Protection over excessive water loss.
The bureau also noted the company’s continued failures to fix issues and pay tens of thousands of dollars in civil penalties.
An investigation to determine whether the commission should order Rock Spring to sell to another utility company “is in the public interest,” Carrie Wright, deputy chief prosecutor, wrote in the bureau’s Sept. 20 filing.
In its initial filing, the bureau identified five possible buyers: the privately owned Aqua Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania American Water Company and Veolia Water; and the municipal-run State College Borough Water Authority and Huntingdon Area Water and Sewage Authority.
The Huntingdon municipal authority has not participated in proceedings.
Meanwhile, Veolia Water asked to be dismissed from the case in filings and during the prehearing conference, citing a lack of local infrastructure to serve Rock Spring customers. The private company also expressed concern over what an acquisition — and the millions of dollars necessary to make system repairs and upgrades — would mean for its existing customers.
Aqua noted in filings that its closest pipes are 50 miles away from the Rock Spring system and argued that there are other providers better situated to take on the water service, but the private company did not ask to be excused from the formal process.
The State College authority and Pennsylvania American Water have systems close to the Rock Spring service area, which could make transition easier. Both entities have expressed interest in the proceedings and discussions about a possible settlement.
The current infrastructure needs millions of dollars in repairs to improve service and comply with state regulations, so cost is a factor.
A 2022 engineering report commissioned by Ferguson Township estimated that the Rock Spring system needed $13.5 million in upgrades. The municipality does not oversee Rock Spring, but local officials have tried to find ways to solve the problem on behalf of residents.
The report — compiled by Altoona-based firm Gwin Dobson & Foreman Engineers and obtained by Spotlight PA — identified the State College authority as the “only logical entity capable” of acquiring Rock Spring. The assessment also identified grant and loan programs that would help fund improvements and avoid hiking up rates for customers.
The water authority has previously attempted to negotiate a sale of Rock Spring to no avail.
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