Rally Against American Water

Activists and politicians hold a rally to discuss high American Water rates. This article first appeared in the February 14th edition of The North Shore Leader

? Loriann Cody

The second rally against American Water was held in Sea Cliff on Saturday, February 10th at Metropolitan Bistro. Residents in Glen Head, Sea Cliff and Glenwood Landing have seen a spike in their American Water bills (as much as 700%) and are fighting back.

The restaurant was packed with a crowd of about 100 residents. Local politicians were there as well, including State Assemblymen Michael Montesano and Charles Lavine, as well as Nassau County Legislators Josh Lafazan and Delia DeRiggi-Whitton. Also present was a representative from Congressman Tom Suozzi’s office and Sea Cliff Mayor Ed Leiberman.

According to reports, American Water customers have already experienced exhorbinate rate increases; and those increases are expected yearly for the next three years. 

One resident I spoke with noted that her bill would be more than $3000 at the end of the three years. “That’s an outrageous price for water, a necessity.”

Why the American Water rates are so high is a combination of a few factors: the decommissioning of the Glenwood Landing Power Plant, which reduced the amount of tax revenue received, and that the Public Service Commission in Albany refused American Water’s request to spread out the fee hikes over all of their Long Island customers. So the revenue burden is affecting only a small amount of customers.

One solution to the high water rates that was discussed at the rally would be to join the Jericho Water District, a public utility, not private, as American Water is. One way to get that accomplished is for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to issue a condemnation of American Water. Towards that end, the two-hour rally concluded with a call to start a letter writing campaign to Governor Cuomo urging him to condemn American Water in this matter.