Editorial: Why doesn't PUC monitor more water authorities?

When it comes to how much public services cost in Pennsylvania, the answer can generally be boiled down to one thing: The state is divided into a lot more pots than necessary.

The Keystone State has a population of 12.8 million. Illinois’ is close at 12.67 million. But where the Land of Lincoln has 1,297 municipalities, Pennsylvania has 2,560. The U.S. Census Bureau says 75% of those Pennsylvania municipalities have gotten smaller in the past 10 years.

Then there are the other agencies, such as authorities that provide services such as water, sewers, solid-waste collection and more. There are another couple thousand fiefdoms there.

All of those agencies are doing things that are absolutely critical. They are the things that people need to live and businesses need to survive.

But is this where individuality is the best way to go?

A Tribune-Review survey of water prices found large disparities in the average bills from local water providers. Latrobe Municipal Authority charges $62.25 per quarter. Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority charges $192.06.

Eight authorities or municipalities get their water from the Allegheny River, one from the Ohio. Six source from wells, reservoirs or other bodies of water. Ten buy from other agencies. The interesting thing there is prices are still all over the map. Cheswick’s average is $80.57 for water it buys from Harmar, while Harmar residents pay $129. Youngstown Borough Municipal Authority customers pay $119.50 for water that starts out in Latrobe at half the cost.

There is more to a water bill than the cost of the water itself. There are pipes and pumps that get water where it is going, and those systems often include upgrades made at different times that might be more expensive than others. There is the labor and the administration. How much of that could be done more cost-effectively by eliminating duplications?

You might assume the Public Utility Commission is involved in keeping tabs on these agencies, but of those addressed here, only PWSA is so regulated. Why? Don’t other residents of other municipalities deserve to have the state advocating on their behalf when it comes to service and rates?

The Trib analysis shows that while a bigger authority is not always better, a lot about what is charged is confusing and contradictory. If nothing else, having an overseer on all of the agencies billing people for water might help make more sense of why something as ubiquitous as water has a price as scattershot as raindrops.