Politics & Government

Hingham Plans to Purchase Water System

Hingham is planning to purchase the town’s water system from Aquarion.

 On Thursday night, Hingham Selectmen agreed to support the Hingham Water Company Acquisition Study Committee’s decision to take the steps necessary to begin a potential acquisition.

The Water Company Acquisition Study Committee was formed at  the 2012 Town Meeting to determine if it is feasible for Hingham to purchase the water company from the Aquarion Water Co.

“Based on our analysis of the proper price to be paid, we believe acquiring the water company will save the public more than $70 million over twenty years,” Jonathan Asher, chairman of the committee said in a written statement.  “After the payoff of a twenty-year bond to subsidize the purchase, the savings will be on the order of $8 million a year.”

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From their study, the committee determined the acquisition would not affect the water rate negatively, the legal basis for the purchase was sound and robust enough to withstand challenge and the purchase would make lower and slower water rate increases possible.

Aquarion, a subsidiary of Macquarie, an Australian investment bank, owns the water structure that serves Hingham, Hull, and about 300 customers in Cohasset.  There facility is on Main Street in Hingham and they have repeatedly told the town that they are not for sale.

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Asher and the Acquisition Study Committee believe Hingham has a right to purchase the company saying it’s a state law.

The committee said the law, which created the water company in 1879, stipulated that Hingham would have the right to purchase the company at any time, based on a price formula laid out in the statute.


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