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Eversource Loses Bid To Buy Connecticut Water Company

John K via Flickr CC
John K via Flickr CC

Eversource has lost a bid to buy a major water company in Connecticut. Shareholders at Connecticut Water voted overwhelmingly Friday to merge with California-based SJW Group.

Eversource was competing with SJW to make the acquisition. The energy giant argued they'd offer more local control and a complementary service area.

It would have been the company's second foray into the water business. Last year, Eversource purchased Aquarion, the biggest private water company in New England.

An Eversource spokesman declined to comment on the shareholders' vote.

SJW's merger with Connecticut Water is set to close next spring. If it gets regulatory approval, it will form the third-largest private water company in the country.

Copyright 2018 New Hampshire Public Radio

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Annie Ropeik joined NHPR’s reporting team in 2017, following stints with public radio stations and collaborations across the country. She has reported everywhere from fishing boats, island villages and cargo terminals in Alaska, to cornfields, factories and Superfund sites in the Midwest.