York Water Company expands into Franklin County

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Publicly traded utility company The York Water Co. recently settled on a deal to acquire its first wastewater system in Franklin County.

The York-based company announced this week that it acquired the Letterkenny Township Municipal Authority wastewater system– making the Franklin County municipality the 50th municipality served by York Water.

Prior to the acquisition, York Water served municipalities in both York and Adams counties. J.T. Hand, president and CEO of The York Water Company, said that the deal was a great fit for the business, adding that the company looks for acquisitions that make good business sense and are a good cultural fit.

“The York Water Company is looking for sustainable, prudent investments in the water and wastewater space where there is a good cultural and business fit and it’s beneficial to both parties,” Hand said. “It may make a good business bit, but if that approach ends in high rates, then it doesn’t fit within our cultural portfolio.”

Selling the wastewater system to York Water will allow the township to focus efforts on governing and will relieve the township of any liability associated with the system, said Hand.

As part of the deal, the utility company will also be working with the state Department of Environmental Protection to settle on an issue regarding a potential consent order from the department related to the wastewater treatment plant.

“We don’t want to be seen as the instigator of the consent order. We want to be seen as the resolver,” said Hand. “We are assuming this from the township, we will resolve this and the folks at DEP are happy to have a competent utility provider stepping in.”

The acquisition is the second that York Water has settled on since the pandemic caused offices to close in March. Hand said that working out such a deal virtually has required a new skill set on the part of both parties.

“Both the selling and buying parties have to be really nimble in how we reach settlements,” he said. “The pandemic has expedited the process in some ways because we couldn’t rely on the face to face physical process.”