The Best Choice to Own and Operate Indianapolis Water and Wastewater Systems
Citizens Energy Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mayor of Indianapolis to transfer the City’s water and wastewater utilities to Citizens. For more information about the proposed utility transfers, see the news release and the City of Indianapolis website.
1. Citizens ensures the water and wastewater systems are kept under local, public ownership to be managed like a not-for-profit only for community benefit, rather than for the benefit of out-of-town
stockholders as would occur through privatization.
- Locally owned and managed – Owned by the
people of Indianapolis for 123 years, Citizens
Energy Group is managed by a non-partisan
Board of Directors that focuses on the needs of
customers and the community, rather than on
the financial demands of stockholders. Citizens
Board members receive modest compensation
and are very involved in the current management
and long-term direction of our company. Further
accountability is ensured because utilities under
Citizens are regulated by the Indiana Utility
Regulatory Commission, with oversight by the
Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor.
- Community investment partner – Citizens has
put nearly $50 million of revenue from non-utility
companies back into the community over the past
decade to fund gas customer rate reductions, low-income
energy assistance, home weatherization
programs, community redevelopment projects
and donations to non-profit organizations.
- Financial stability – Citizens has a long history of
solid financial management. Diversified operations,
prudent debt structure and conservative debt
service ratios help ensure financial integrity and
stability. In 2009, Citizens effectively refinanced
debt and implemented a freeze on salaries to
hold the line on operating costs and fulfill its
obligations to its retirees.
2. Citizens will provide outstanding service with the lowest possible rates, thereby keeping Central Indiana an affordable place to live while enhancing economic development.
- Operates like a not-for-profit – The 123-year-old Citizens Charitable
Trust operates like a not-for-profit solely for the benefit of customers
and the community. Transferring the water and wastewater systems to
Citizens will result in rates approximately 25 percent lower by the year
2025 than any other option available to the City.
- Operational coordination – Approximately $40 million in annual savings
will be achieved by coordinating operations and sharing services among
the combined gas, steam, chilled water, water and wastewater utilities.
- Access to tax-exempt financing – Citizens also will generate savings
because it has access to tax-exempt financing, which provides lower
borrowing costs than private and investor-owned utilities could achieve.
- Customer satisfaction and operational excellence – Due to loyal,
dedicated employees with an unwavering commitment to service, Citizens
is an industry leader for customer satisfaction, according to surveys by
J.D. Power & Associates and Market Strategies International. Citizens
Gas also ranked first or second in 2008 across operational, financial and
customer satisfaction categories in a utility benchmarking study with the
Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor.
3. Transfer of the water and wastewater systems to Citizens will be fair to all involved.
- Fairness to customers and the City – The transfer agreement ensures
financial benefits to utility customers, while providing funding to the
City for badly needed infrastructure investments such as improvements
to streets, bridges and sidewalks.
- Transfer can be verified and approved – The transfer agreement is
based on a professional, objectively verified valuation of the water and
wastewater systems. The stated value of the water and wastewater
systems is based on the reasonable cost of providing water and wastewater
services to the people of Central Indiana. Because of the fair, reasonable
terms of the transfer agreement with the City, Citizens is confident the
agreement can be approved by the City-County Council and the Indiana
Utility Regulatory Commission.