CHARLESTON, WV (WOAY) – The Public Service Commission has ordered a general investigation into Kanawha Falls Public Service district following allegations of poor management and told legal staff to petition a Fayette County Circuit Court Judge to appoint West Virginia American Water as a receiver to run the system.
It comes after PSC staff alleged that Kanawha Falls’s water and sewer services are “inadequate, inefficient, and unreasonable,” saying the district has been unresponsive to the needs of its customers and has not complied with commission orders.
“[Staff requests] the Commission find the District is unwilling or unable to adequately service its customers, that the District’s management is grossly and willfully inefficient, irresponsible, and unresponsive to the needs to its customers, and that it is in the best interests of the District’s customers that WVAWC be appointed as a receiver to operate the District’s system and assets in the best interests of the District’s customers,” the petition reads.
Specifically, the petition alleges that Kanawha Falls has not complied with the Public Service Commission’s rules for the government of sewer utilities, has not maintained a working capital cash reserve, and refused to comply with an order that it enter into an operations and maintenance agreement with West Virginia American Water.
“The Kanawha Falls Public Service District was determined to be a distressed water utility in Commission Case No. 22-0631-PWD-DU,” the petition states. “As a result of water outages, the Commission entered an Order dated June 2, 2025, requiring the District to enter in an Operations & Maintenance Agreement with West Virginia-American Water Company (WVAWC), which has not transpired.”
PSC staff will now petition a Fayette County Circuit Judge to appoint West Virginia American Water as a receiver. Neither West Virginia American Water and the Fayette County Commission opposed the sale.
The Public Service Commission noted two related cases where Kanawha Falls admitted it “lacked internal funds to repair a pump station where untreated sewage is spilling onto the ground.” The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has filed a petition in Fayette County Circuit Court, charging the system with water pollution and violation of groundwater laws.
