Montgomery County: Acquisition Partnership Testimonial

The previous area water utility, Montgomery County Water Cooperative, partnered with EJ Water in 2012 to help fulfill the role of water operator in charge and provide bookkeeping, customer service, and management services. In 2020, after 8 years of partnership, MCWC board and members decided that formally joining EJ Water was the best decision to help keep rates affordable in their community. Due to increasing water costs, Montgomery County Water would’ve had to implement a 5% water rate increase. Now, all past Montgomery County Water customers and new customers will instead have a rate freeze over the next 5 years. After 5 years, rates will be lowered to match EJ Water’s rates.

As a not-for-profit, we pride ourselves in offering our members the lowest water rates possible by utilizing grants and economies of scale provided by our more than 11,400 members. This partnership is a product of EJ’s mission, “Improving the Quality of Life, the Cooperative Way” by helping our rural communities grow through long-term sustainability. We are proud to be a not-for-profit that not only helps our neighboring communities, but also simultaneously increases the long-term sustainability of the Co-Op and affordable water rates for our members. These new community partnerships allow increasing costs to be spread across more members and ultimately ensure long-term affordable rates due to economies of scale. Furthermore, partnering with communities will help increase EJ’s overall revenue which positively impacts the bottom line and long-term sustainability for the Co-Op.