Indiana American Water announces the acquisition of Claypool water system

Indiana American Water said this week it had agreed to acquire the Claypool water system in northern Indiana.

The acquisition will add nearly 150 water customers to the company’s client base, which represents a population of over 400 residents, it said.

Approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in February, the deal was estimated at $700,000.

“The acquisition of this system will help hold future rates down for Claypool customers as needed investments are made and also provides access to operations and capital management water professionals and a number of customer service options and payment methods,” Indiana American Water’s President Matt Prine said in a press release.

“Indiana American Water already provides water service to several nearby communities, so this is a good fit for us and a continuation of our efforts to expand our presence across Indiana,” Prine added.

“Claypool customers will benefit from Indiana American Water’s experience and expertise and the company’s large customer base across the state will provide much greater economies of scale and future rate stability by keeping water rates lower than they would have been as a small, stand-alone system,” Claypool Town Council President Benny Stage said.

“The business of providing water is getting more complicated every day, especially for smaller systems like ours that struggle with evolving regulatory issues and not having the scale to gain efficiencies in our operations,” Stage added.