Political divisions are capturing the spotlight more than ever.
Yet, one area of bipartisan support involves trusting private, regulated utilities to meet water and sewer needs of communities large and small. Municipalities across the political spectrum are increasingly looking to members of the New Jersey Utilities Association to manage the complexities of water and sewer services.
This trend is unmistakable in New Jersey. There have been eight approved ballot referendums to sell a municipal water or sewer system to an investor-owned utility in the last five years.
This year, towns as varied as South Orange, a progressive dense suburb, and Manalapan, a more moderate sprawling community, have embraced smart initiatives by voting “yes” on a ballot question to sell their water system to New Jersey American Water and Veolia, respectively.
Local leaders continue to recognize the advantages private, professional companies bring, from handling more stringent federal regulations to providing reliable, quality services with stable rates and consistent infrastructure investment that many municipal-run systems find difficult to sustain.
An added benefit: Municipalities also gain new tax revenue by selling their systems to investor-owned utilities.
It’s about practicality. With the rise of federal water quality mandates, particularly around PFAS and lead service line replacements, many New Jersey communities are facing significant operational, financial and logistical hurdles to ensure they can meet all standards.
Small municipalities, which typically lack the resources or technical expertise to navigate these new regulations, are increasingly leaning on the experience of NJUA members. Private, professional utilities not only understand these regulatory landscapes but can also comply without overburdening the local workforce or municipal budget. And compliance can also be achieved without major double-digit rate hikes.
Smaller communities face unique challenges because of their limited customer base. Unlike larger municipalities with broader tax revenues, smaller or older towns often struggle to afford major infrastructure upgrades and regulatory compliance required and can only spread costs over a small, finite customer base.
In contrast, investor-owned utilities can spread costs over a wider customer footprint gaining immense economies of scale, ensuring that smaller towns aren’t disproportionately burdened by financial strain.
In Salem — a diverse, Democratic-leaning community with a significant population of low-income residents — has found common ground with Allendale, an affluent, moderate town, in their shared support of partnering with private utilities to solve their challenges with PFAS contamination and providing safe drinking water to its residents and businesses. Each town sees unique value in private companies’ ability to deliver safe and clean water, even if their demographics and politics differ.
Similarly, Somerville, a community with a mix of wealthy, middle- and low-income neighborhoods, and Manville, a blue-collar community with families that go back generations, demonstrate how communities with varying socioeconomic profiles can unite on this critical issue.
The takeaway is clear: New Jersey residents recognize that safe, reliable, affordable water and sewer service transcends political affiliation and the demographic composition of the community.
Critics and outside groups often argue that federal grants and funding can address the infrastructure needs of communities. They usually fail to acknowledge, however, that there are limitations to this approach. Wealthier towns may be restricted from accessing certain types of federal funding, leaving them to seek limited paths to meet their infrastructure needs that include bonding and borrowing or significantly raising rates, or property taxes.
And although grants can help, the billions of dollars needed to revitalize New Jersey’s aging infrastructure exceed what federal resources alone can support. The water quality expertise, financial stability, and readiness of private companies offer a crucial solution to this gap.
Opponents of partnering with regulated utilities often include well-funded, Washington, D.C.-based activist groups that lack local connections or direct stakes in the communities they target. They also leave the community high and dry to try to find solutions should efforts to sell municipal systems fail.
In contrast, NJUA’s member utilities are invested in maintaining positive, long-term relationships with the residents and businesses they serve, because they are not just providers — they are community partners that live and work there.
The message from these towns is clear: This is not a Republican or Democrat issue. Leaders of both red and blue communities have recognized that private utilities offer something municipalities need but often lack: the operational and financial resources and water quality expertise to navigate a complex regulatory landscape while delivering safe, reliable services that their residents and businesses depend on.
As we continue to face urgent infrastructure demands, the NJUA remains squarely focused on pragmatic, community-centered solutions.
Richard Henning is the CEO of the New Jersey Utilities Association, which represents regulated utilities that provide essential water, wastewater, electric, natural gas and telecommunications services to New Jersey.
