Water bills in Allegany County community force residents to conserve
About 1,200 people in Allegany County face a frightening choice every time they turn on their shower or open a water bill: risk their health or lose their homes.
"The thing that I'm afraid of is it's going to come down to a choice of do I lose my house?" said Rhonda Muir, a local resident. "I'm gonna get sick, we're gonna get sick. I mean, there's all kinds of scenarios."
These neighbors rely on a private water system owned by Maryland Water Service, operated by Nexus Water Group. When we reached out to the company multiple times for comment, Nexus Water Group defended their rates in an email response, saying they're regulated by the Public Service Commission.
But residents say that regulation isn't working.
"Public Service Commission has not only failed, it has failed miserably," said Larry Smith, another affected resident. "Its job is to protect the consumer and balance the interests between the consumer and business. On the consumer end, it has not only failed, it has failed miserably. We have to ask ourselves who's watching those who are supposed to regulate the industry. They're our guardrail."
When we contacted the Public Service Commission multiple times about the rates, they said in a statement that the most recent rates were lower than MWS requested, set "under the Commission's mandate to set just and reasonable rates to allow the utility to provide safe and reliable service."
Lawmakers seek emergency declaration
Fed up residents are turning to their elected officials for help. Delegate Jason Buckel, the Republican leader in the Maryland House of Delegates, represents Allegany County.
"It's just been a failure of government, in addition to these kind of bad acts by this company," Buckel said.
Regional lawmakers have asked Governor Wes Moore to declare a state of emergency.
Rhyan Lake, a senior communications strategist in the Moore office said, "We're aware of the Senator's request and evaluating all options to offer assistance to residents."
"What I'd like to see happen is us to use the power of government, state and local, to put every ounce of pressure on this company to allow this water system to come in the Allegany County public water system," Buckel said.
Limited options for relief
The Office of the People's Counsel represents Maryland residents in their fights against utility rate increases. They've seen private water companies across the state continue to get paid back for capital investments, typically with a 9 percent profit.
"Once those capital investments are approved, it's really hard to walk them back," said David Lapp from the Office of the People's Counsel.
Lapp said the People's Counsel rarely sees rates go down once they increase for any utilities in the state.
"Customers can let the Public Service Commission know, but there are limitations on what the Public Service Commission can do outside of a rate case," Lapp said. "Of course there's always the legislature, so the legislature can do things to change the law and perhaps affect what happens with water service, but you know there aren't a lot of avenues available."
Residents demand change
For now, residents hope their elected officials deliver a solution sooner rather than later.
"I'd like to see the water company go away," said Richard, another affected resident. "They're just gonna keep raising the rates whether we like it or not."
The Office of the People's Counsel is pushing for legislation to provide a better warning system to people buying homes on private water systems.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
