Posted on October 29, 2025
American Water Works will merge with Essential Utilities to create a $40 billion public water and wastewater utility, which will operate under the name of American Water.
Based in Camden and Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, respectively, American Water and Essential Utilities, the parent company of Aqua Water and Peoples Natural Gas, are the two largest municipal water and wastewater management companies nationwide.
Customer prices will remain unchanged, according to a joint press release, and as a result of the merger, both companies “will be better able to maintain an average customer water bill that is affordable, supporting the economic prosperity of the more than 2,000 communities in which the combined company will operate.”
“By joining forces with Essential, the combined company’s enhanced scale and operational efficiency will support continued investment in our critical infrastructure, enabling us to continue providing superior customer service at affordable rates,” said John C. Griffith, American Water president and CEO, in a press release. “We look forward to bringing together the talented teams of both companies to help solve the many water and wastewater challenges across the country and expand our customer base.”
The combined company will have around 4.7 million water and wastewater connections across 17 states and a number of military bases, serving more than 2,000 communities.
Christopher H. Franklin, chairman and CEO of Essential Utilities, said in a press release that the combined company “will build upon our longstanding track record of delivering safe and reliable services and be better positioned to solve today’s challenges while creating a sustainable future.”
“Together, we will have expertise, financial strength and regulatory credibility to continuously improve our infrastructure and meet the evolving needs of our customers,” he said.
Mary Grant, the Public Water for All campaign director at the nonprofit Food and Water Watch, said the merger is “alarming.”
“We are very worried about a future where there’s one big water monopoly,” she said. “Water is such an essential service that everyone needs, essential for public health and well-being, and we’re very worried about what the ramifications will be for people if water systems are consolidated in the hands of this for-profit mega monopoly.”
Grant said the merger presents ramifications for the water privatization process, which has seen an uptick — and accompanying pushback — in Pennsylvania in recent years.
“When a town or a city goes out to bid, often, they already only get one or two bids, and it’s going to typically Essential or American,” she said. “And so now this town only gets one bid, right, from the newly-merged American Water. And what does that mean for the public bargaining power when privatizing? Will it lead to worse deals, fewer protections? So there’s a lot of ramifications that could come from this, because, again, these are the two largest water utilities, so it’s not a standard private acquisition or consolidation. These are major companies consolidating together into one big water monopoly.”
Essential Utilities’ offices in Bryn Mawr and Pittsburgh will remain open under the combined company, with headquarters located in Camden.
The companies said they expect the transaction to be closed by the first quarter of 2027, pending approval from stakeholders and other public utility commissions.
