Kentucky American Water has seen the return of a former leader and next month expects to resurrect a recently scuttled request to raise water rates on its customers.
Nick Rowe, a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, who led Kentucky American Water from 2004 to2011, is back in Lexington in a dual role. In addition to replacing Cheryl Norton, who was named president of Missouri American Water, Rowe retains his leadership position at American Water’s Central Division, which includes Kentucky Tennessee, Indiana and Michigan.
The personnel moves follow a request in October with the Kentucky Public Service Commission to raise water rates. Following some publicity, the utility withdrew the request, which didn’t specify an amount being requested.
Rowe said the leadership changes influenced that decision.
“With all these changes going on and trying to get everyone in place and with Cheryl moving and me coming in, we wanted to make sure we had all the numbers buttoned up on our case,” Rowe said in a recent interview. “We’ll fi le a new notice at some point in time, when we think we’re in a position to do so.”
Rowe said he expected the rate hike to be refiled by mid-January.
Rowe declined to say how much American Water would seek, saying the numbers will be made public when the filing is complete. The water company last filed for a rate increase in late 2012.
Rowe said the additional revenue would help pay to replace some of the network’s 48,000 miles of water pipes and to remove from service the 100-year-old plant on Richmond Road in Lexington known as the filter building. The facility filters impurities out of the raw water drawn from sources such as the Kentucky River.
“It is at the end of its useful life,” said Rowe. “Replacing that building is what’s driving the next rate increase. That new building would be about a $15 million project.”
Rowe said the public needs to understand the costly infrastructure demands on the water and wastewater industries. Rowe said that while bridges and roads often get more attention, maintaining the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure over the next 20 years will cost hundreds of billions of dollars.
“You don’t get to have a big groundbreaking and cut ribbons,” Rowe said of water improvements. “But it’s something you have to do to operate a solid utility.
“We continue to invest in our infrastructure replacements like water mains and treatment facilities over the years to keep them up to speed,” he said. “If you’ve got pipes that are over a 100 years old, you’ve got to get them out of the ground.”