Aqua America will acquire Peoples Gas for $4.27 billion with the hopes of offering a combined gas and water utility service in the future, according to an announcement Tuesday morning.

The transaction also includes the assumption of about $1.3 billion of debt accumulated by Peoples.

In a news release Tuesday, Aqua Chairman and CEO Christopher Franklin said he was focused on the potential of a company that could offer both water and gas utility services.

“We plan to leverage the combined breadth of experience from both companies to lead our new combined company,” Franklin said.

Franklin said combining the two utilities will boost productivity and potential growth.

“By bringing together water and natural gas distribution utility companies that share a core mission of providing essential services to customers, the resulting company will be positioned to grow and drive value, as well as make a long-term, positive contribution to our nation's infrastructure challenges and ensure service reliability for generations to come,” Franklin said.

Headquartered in Bryn Mawr, Pa., near Philadelphia, Aqua America is a 132-year-old regulated water and wastewater utility that employs 1,600 people and serves 3 million customers in seven states.

Following the deal's closing — a timeline for which was not available Tuesday — the company's revenues from rates is projected around $7.2 billion, according to the announcement.

The company projects about 70 percent of its business to come from water and wastewater service and 30 percent from natural gas.

Morgan O'Brien will continue to lead the natural gas arm of the new company, which will remain headquartered in Pittsburgh.

Peoples is a 133-year-old natural gas company headquartered in Pittsburgh with about 1,500 employees. It is the largest natural gas distribution company in Pennsylvania, servicing about 740,000 customers in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.

O'Brien said the move would provide more stability for customers and the company as Peoples continues to update infrastructure, now being able to install or improve both water and gas at the same time.

“The planned combination with Aqua creates a larger strategic utility committed to growing our region's economic future using the most responsible and innovative tools in our long-term infrastructure replacement programs ...” O'Brien said.

O'Brien said both companies bring good records to the table.

“Our resulting company is deeply rooted in the long-established regulatory environments where partnership opportunities will support growth and safety,” he said. “We are focused on strongly encouraging infrastructure replacement and expansion to better serve customers and fuel growth opportunities.”

O'Brien said the expansion of infrastructure projects will also create better employment and career advancement opportunities.

“For example, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has demonstrated its support for our infrastructure investment program, through which we will replace more than 3,100 miles of bare steel and cast-iron pipe in the coming years at a current rate of about 150 miles per year,” said O'Brien.

County Commissioner Chairwoman Leslie Osche said not much has been said about how the new company could change daily life in Butler County or any other region.

“I think it's too soon to know if there's an impact on our county,” Osche said. “I can't imagine what that might be.”

Osche said O'Brien has done a lot for the region and Butler County, and she expects little will change.

“Peoples has been a strategic partner in our community in so many ways,” she said. “I think I would trust him to do the right thing for this region.”

Osche said she also doesn't see a problem with a combined gas and water utility company in terms of competition. She said Pennsylvania American Water still controls much of the infrastructure in the county.

“Pennsylvania American water has done a tremendous job at building relationships in the towns and counties that it services,” she said. “I think we have utility choice, and I don't see utility choice going away anytime soon.”

Osche said it could benefit the county by allowing a new company to try to bring water to areas that are serviced by Peoples for gas, but are not tied into the public water system.

She said the new company may be able to reach people as their infrastructure improvements continue to work on both gas and water at the same time.

“But without connection to the main system, I'm not sure how that would play out,” Osche said. “We all have to sit back and watch and wait to see what happens next.”