The legislature is working to push a bill through that would make it easier to sell Wisconsin’s public water utilities and sewage systems to private companies. AB554/SB432 has passed the full Assembly (on a voice-vote, so we don’t know who supported the bill) and is now awaiting approval from the Senate Committee.
Wisconsin has a history of recognizing the importance of our natural resources, including clean drinking water. Even our constitution notes how important our water is; making it a sacred, public asset. If a water utility is privatized, then that private company has some control over the water supply, even if that means supplying water to a water bottling company. It wasn’t that long ago that we had to stop Perrier from their proposal to bottle Wisconsin’s water.
This is another example of the pay-to-play legislature. The bill’s author, Representative Tyler August from the Lake Geneva area, doesn’t even hide the fact that he brought the proposal forward at the request of an out-of-state corporation, not because his constituents or the municipalities in his district support the bill. This is another example of the legislature looking for solutions that don’t exist instead of focusing on the needs of their district.
What’s more disheartening is the blatancy of this push to get this legislation through when we are watching the events of the water crisis in Flint unfold. Families in Flint have been poisoned with bad drinking water.
When the emergency manager in Flint took over, the number one goal was to make more money and to cut costs—not the health or welfare of the families in Flint. Finding less expensive options proved to mean finding less safe options as well. Wisconsin does not need to sell off something as important as the right to clean drinking water to corporations. The focus needs to be the health of all Wisconsin residents, not the health of the portfolio of a private corporation, like AQUA America, the Pennsylvanian company that is pushing this bill through. AQUA America claims they can utilize economies of scale in order to run water and sewage systems for less cost; however, the municipality often doesn’t not save any money from selling the utility.
Problems with infrastructure pose a great danger to our drinking water; however, these problems are widespread. One investigation found:
“At least 176,000 so-called lead service lines connect older Wisconsin homes to the iron water mains that deliver municipal water, according to an estimate by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Milwaukee alone, where 60 percent of the state's known lead-poisoned children live, has 70,000 lead service lines.”
These problems are costly to fix and are more of an infrastructure problem than a service problem. A corporation 900 miles away with the job to make money for their shareholders is unlikely to have the desire or concern to pay for expensive upgrades. With a public utility, when there is extra money, that money is invested back into the community, often into infrastructure. When the goal is profits, extra money will likely be given to shareholders, as bonuses, etc. This also increases the demand for extra money, and the demand for cutting corners in order to increase the bottom line.
One easy way to increase profits is to shift more of the financial burdens on to the users and to increase water and sewage rates. Food and Water Watch explains that these corporations usually charge 33% more for water and 63% more for sewer service. One Texas municipality saw a 154% increase! AQUA America has had many complaints of excessive rate increasesand poor service. Those that could suffer the most are those that can least afford it. Those struggling to make ends meet now, will have to struggle more to pay their water bills. One shouldn’t be forced into a situation in which they have to choose between basic needs, like having to choose between paying the water bill, the electricity bill, or for groceries.
Water privatization can also lead to less safe drinking water. A law passed in 2011 removed the requirement to disinfect municipal water systems. A study in 2012 found that as a result of these un-disinfected water systems, there were higher incidences of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses in 14 water systems in Wisconsin. Putting the focus on profits and not safe drinking water could lead to even more problems.
There are many reasons for communities to be concerned about potential water utility sales. Among other changes, the bill removes the requirement for a referendum in order for a municipality to sell a public water utility. In order to require a referendum, residents have thirty days to collect signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, or else the sale continues to the next stage without input from residents. In a city like Stevens Point, that’s 3,000 signatures; in Milwaukee, that’s over 20,000. The signatures would have to be collected and the referendum would have to be voted on before details of the sale and consequences are even known. The burden is literally on those who drink the water to protest, not the company or municipality to who are trying to sell off the water utility.
Privatizing water utilities will reduce accountability. A corporation is accountable to their shareholders and their boards—not their customers. With a public utility, they are run by the municipality and if there are problems and the municipality refuses to fix them, the elected officials that run that municipality can be replaced. The best protections we have now is this accountability and the mission of elected officials to serve their constituents, not shareholders across the country.
This comes with a lack of transparency as well. When you don’t have to answer to the public, finding information can be impossible or take a lot more time. If something like what’s happening in Flint were to happen here, a private utility could make it that much more difficult to find answers or the cause of a problem. With something as important as our drinking water, one would think the legislature would be increasing safeguards, not loosening them.
Contact your Senator today and ask them to protect your drinking water and oppose SB432!