The Great Fairfield County Water Heist 

A Special Investigation into the “Dirty Deal” to Sell Our Water, the Decades of Environmental Injustice, and the People’s Plan to Take Back Control.

Author: Solar the Spokesdog, through his human companion, Matthew Hallock

Section 1: The “Emergency” That Wasn’t

Cries of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” echoed through the halls of Connecticut’s capitol last summer. In a move that smacked of manufactured urgency, CT state elected officials included an emergency provision in an omnibus bill during a special session. The accomplished goal: Advance the sale of Fairfield County’s water company, Aquarion, to the New Haven-based Regional Water Authority (RWA).

An examination of the facts, however, raises troubling environmental, financial, and privacy questions. This was no emergency; it was the final, brazen act of a multi-year, backroom deal designed to force the nearly one million residents of Fairfield County to cede control of their water rights against their wishes. The utilities are now in the harsh light of public scrutiny, and the trust between them and the people they are supposed to serve is broken.

Section 2: A History of Betrayal: How Our Water Became a Commodity

As Toby on The Office said, You can start at the beginning, but you really have to go back further. To understand how we got here, you have to know the history. The original utility, the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, was formed in the 1800s to serve a local need. It grew to primarily serve approx. 200,000 customers in Easton, Fairfield, Bridgeport, and Stratford.  In 1991, a critical change occurred. In Delaware, Bridgeport Hydraulic formed an entity that not only changed its name to Aquarion; it changed its mission.

It was no longer a local water utility. It became an acquisition company. Their new mission was to acquire other water authorities. They gobbled up dozens of smaller systems and, most notably, took over the large, independent water companies serving the people of Stamford and New Canaan. Eventually, by 2012, they controlled every town in the entire county, plus water authorities in MA, NH and elsewhere.

Its new purpose was to gobble up smaller regional water authorities, transforming a public trust into a portfolio of assets. This new entity was sold to the Kelda Group, a British company, in 2000. It was then sold again, this time to an Australian mining company called Macquarie, and then to its financial arm (bank).

In 2017, the energy giant Eversource announced they were suddenly “in” the water business, purchasing Aquarion for $1.65 billion. Just seven years later, in 2024, they announced they were “out,” brokering a ready-made deal to sell Aquarion to its long-time competitor, the Regional Water Authority (RWA) of New Haven. Eversource was merely a highly-paid broker in a deal that gives RWA what it has always lusted after: monopolistic control of the water of Fairfield County, their adversary next door

Section 3: The Catalyst: The Lone Voice in the Room

The warning bells weren’t just being rung in Hartford over this deal. They have just been ignored.

Last September, at a meeting of the state’s Water Protection Council, dozens of industry insiders, regulators, and utility representatives gathered to discuss the future of Connecticut’s water. Of the 35 people on that call, only one was from Fairfield County.

That person was Matthew Hallock, a local resident and energy consultant representing the community.

In a direct address to the representatives from the Regional Water Authority (RWA) and Aquarion, Hallock laid out the facts and issued a clear, unambiguous warning, stating that the people of Fairfield County were “adamantly opposed” to ceding their water rights to a New Haven-based entity.

“This is like Chinatown the movie,” he told the group, referencing the classic film about backroom deals and the manipulation of public water for profit. “There’s a million people in Fairfield County, and we do not want any part of this. This is a bad, bad deal.”

He then delivered a pointed message to the RWA, invoking the story of a lake on the Connecticut-Massachusetts border with the longest place name in America, Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg on the CT/MA border, which translates to: “You fish on your side of the lake, and I’ll fish on mine.”

“That’s what we kindly say to RWA,” Hallock stated. “Please stay on your side of the Housatonic River, because we have our own affairs to do.”

The warning shot had been fired. It was now on the public record.

Section 4: The Crime: A Quick Flip and a Sweetheart Deal

A responsible energy company makes deliberate, long-term investments to serve its customers. Is that what happened here?

In 2017, with no warning, the massive energy utility Eversource announced it was suddenly “in water.” Out of the blue, this Boston-based energy company, with no background in managing public water, spent $1.65 billion to purchase Aquarion from the financial arm of an Australian mining company. The move was confusing, but it was presented as a serious, long-term business expansion.

Just seven years later, Eversource announced they were suddenly “out of water.”

This short, bizarre adventure in the water business was not a random experiment. It was a means to an end. Eversource acted as the bridge, the well-funded broker, to orchestrate a sweetheart deal that hands over Fairfield County’s water rights to the RWA. This wasn’t a public sale to the highest bidder. It was a pre-arranged transfer, and it raises one central question: what was Eversource’s real motive, and how much did they profit from this quick flip at our expense?

Section 5: The Evidence Locker: A Story of Willful Negligence

A responsible company does not sell a house without disclosing a cracked foundation. Yet, Eversource is attempting to sell an entire water system while willfully ignoring a foundation riddled with toxic liabilities—and RWA seems content to buy it sight unseen.

This isn’t just a bad business deal; it is an act of gross negligence.

The most glaring issue is the state of our pipes. It is a known fact that many communities, especially in the East End of Bridgeport, are serviced by 200-year-old clay pipes. Federal law required all utilities to submit a comprehensive inventory of their lead service lines by October 16, 2024. As of this writing, Eversource had still not filed its lead report with the EPA. It is negligent for the RWA to acquire this system without first performing its own basic due diligence.

The negligence runs both ways. Eversource knows the pipes are old and that there is a significant risk of lead contamination and plastics in our water. And yet, they are actively trying to dump these massive, undisclosed liabilities onto us, the ratepayers. This is a direct defiance of three White House Executive Orders on Environmental Justice, which were explicitly designed to protect communities like Bridgeport.

Section 6: Our Declaration: A Bill of Rights for Our Water

It is not enough to simply say “no.” We must declare what we are fighting for. We propose the formation of a new People’s Authority, governed by the residents of Fairfield County and guided by a simple, non-negotiable Bill of Rights.

This vision is grounded in a simple truth: no one owns the water. It is a public trust. The job of a water company is an honor and an obligation to filter and dispense that water safely. Under Connecticut’s own Public Trust Doctrine, our water is a resource for the people. This Bill of Rights is our demand to treat it as such.

We, the People of Fairfield County, hold these rights to be fundamental:

  • The Right to Water: No member of our community will ever have their water shut off due to financial hardship.
  • The Right to Local Control: The stewardship of our water belongs to the people who drink it.
  • The Right to Trust & Transparency: Our utility must exist to serve the public, with full transparency in all operations.
  • The Right to Clean & Healthy Water: We have the right to the highest quality water at the lowest possible cost.
  • The Right to Prioritize Our Climate & Environment: Our utility must be a leader in conservation and watershed protection.
  • The Right to Uphold Our Values: The public should not be forced to patronize any entity with a poor record on human rights or the environment.
  • The Right to Demand the Best: We have a right to expect our utility to lead the nation in best practices for ESG and DEI.

Section 7: The Solution: A New Model of Stewardship

A Bill of Rights is a promise. But a promise requires guardians.

Our vision is not just about new leadership; it’s about a new model of service. We propose the creation of dedicated “Town Services” stewards—local residents living in affordable, town-supported homes near our most vital resources.

These will not be distant managers. They will be our neighbors, our “boots on the ground,” monitoring our water quality daily and ensuring the security of our infrastructure. This is a practical, modern solution that creates jobs, provides affordable homes, and ensures the highest level of care for our environment. It is a plan that has been presented to and positively received by the First Selectmen of both Fairfield and Easton.

The old way of doing things is over. The fight to fix Connecticut starts here.


In our next article: We will investigate the energy duopoly and their plan to make you pay for a billion-dollar debt you didn’t create.