West Virginia American Water opens new facility in Oak Hill

OAK HILL, WV (WVNS) – West Virginia American Water is splashing into Fayette County with a new facility.  The opening of the facility is in Oak Hill was celebrated with a ribbon cutting and open house.

Board members, employees, and President of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce gathered for the grand opening of a new West Virginia American Water facility in the city of Oak Hill.

The facility provides the company with more space for new equipment and employees.

Rob Burton, President of West Virginia American Water, said residents can still rely on the quality of their work and public service with this new opening.

“The reality is that what they can expect is us to, ya know, continue to deliver safe, reliable drinking water on a daily basis. Our crews will have a good facility to work out of so they can continue to make good service to our customers and we’ll just keep doing our part to take care of the community here” said Burton.

A relocation was needed to give space for employees and equipment.

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But this new facility raises an important question for customers: will the price of water for Oak Hill and Fayette County residents increase?

Burton says the price of water is not determined by their company, but change is possible.

“So, the reality is whenever we do capital investments there is a chance that will go into rates at a later date. Ultimately, rates are determined by the Public Service Commission. So, yes there are some capital investments that we made here and there is a chance we may be asking for recovery of those capital investments” said Burton to 59News.

West Virginia American Water officials told 59News they are happy to open this facility in Oak Hill at the service residents.

They say their goal is to help every resident get quality water.

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