NEW CITY – Rockland County has filed a lawsuit against the company that supplies its water – Suez, formerly United Water – and two state agencies for “failing to protect the public from runaway costs” for the desalination plant was never built.
Suez wants county ratepayers to pay millions for the plant, despite the fact that it never got off the ground.
Named in the suit, filed last Friday, are Suez, the Public Service Commission and the Department of Public Service.
“The Public Service Commission, which was supposed to be the watchdog for the consumer, stood by and did nothing as Suez, our water company spent $54 million on a plant that was never built,” said County Executive Edwin Day. “In short, Rockland ratepayers are being hosed.”
Day said at a PSC hearing for a surcharge, the water company submitted over 9,500 pages of schedules and “heavily redacted” invoices for legal and other expenses related to the proposed Haverstraw desalination plant. He said the Department of Public Service did not verify those expenses, but performed a sample audit of the invoices.
The lawsuit alleges the Department of Public Service violated its statutory responsibility by performing the limited or sample audit of the invoices of those expenditures or changes for consultants. It also alleges that Suez violated its statutory responsibilities for imposing “unjust or unreasonable charges” on ratepayers for those charges.
