United Water Need and Prudence Case (2013-2015)

Case Information:  13-W-0303

 

United Water of New York (“UWNY”), which serves nearly 300,000 customers throughout Rockland County and a portion of Orange County, sought to develop a $200 million Hudson River Desalination Plant (also known as the Haverstraw Desalination Project or the Long Term Water Supply Project) to provide additional 2.5 million gallons per day of water by 2016 in Rockland and Orange counties.

UIU submitted comments on United Water's Need of the Haverstraw Water Project (11/12/2013); provided initial and rebuttal comments on the Need Report on 7/9/2014 and 07/30/2014, respectively.  UIU submitted comments on 10/5/2015 showing the commission should authorize UWNY to abandon the Haverstraw Water Project.  UIU also demonstrated to the Public Service Commission (“Commission”) that the United Water’s management practices could benefit from careful Commission oversight.

The Commission issued an Order Addressing Status of Need and Directing Further Study on November 17, 2014 which determined changes in projected demand delayed the need for a new long term water supply source.  The order also required United Water and the Rockland County Task Force on Water Resource Management (“Task Force”) to study water sources to determine whether it would be possible to reduce demand by 2 MGD and increase supply with smaller supply sources by 3 MGD.  The Commission issued a notice seeking public comment on abandonment of the Haverstraw Project on August 6, 2015.  Comments were filed by numerous parties, including UIU.  On December 18, 2015, Commission issued an order adopting alternative demand/supply strategies and abandoning the Haverstraw Project.  The order requires the Company 1) to continue filing quarterly reports of supply and demand, as required by the November 2014 order; 2) to provide details on the specific programs, costs, and implementation schedules for the measures it has proposed in this proceeding in its upcoming rate filing.

To learn more about this case, please go to the Department of Public Service’s Document and Matter Management System (“DMM”) under the above referenced case number.

• Proceeding on Motion of the Commission to Examine United Water New York, Inc.'s Development of a New Long-Term Water Supply Source.