Realistic

Water Utility IPO: American Water Works

As a former managment employee who still has regular contacts with America employees, I would be very hesitant to invest in this comany. Too many experienced supervisors and managers were shown the door in 2004 when an RWE ordered reorganization took place. Now because of repaid growth in infrastructure replacement and PUC mandated practices, too many unqualified and inexperienced people are responsible for the day to day operations that are necessary to deliver a quality product and prevent incidents like Joplin, MO. In Joplin recently, the entire city was under a boil order because there were bad decisions made on how to handle treatment at their plant when the supply source experienced a surge in water due to heavy rains. Coincidently, the former plant manager, a 20+ year employee, had been layed off during another reorganization. Now the Missouri Public Service Commission is investigating.