Brent Fewell, Senior Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety at United Water, presented at ACE 2013. The presentation focused on removing barriers to innovation and innovative financing.
2. Risk Averse Nature of the Water Sector
The recipe for failure is when the perceived risks of
failure exceed the perceived benefits of success.
The recipe for success is changing recipes.
3.
4. Organized to Meet US Water Needs
UW
Regulated
Business
20 Utilities
NEW
UW
Environment
Services
Business
100 Projects
UW
Partnered
with DB
Firms
- East Providence
- Holyoke
5. How to Create Sustainable Water Systems
What US Cities Need:
1. Operational Efficiency, Expertise and Technological Innovation
2. Capital dollars to ensure that water and wastewater systems are
sustainable for a 40 to 50 year horizon
3. Financial leverage to unlock the hidden value of a utility so the City can
strengthen its economy
4. Local job creation from infrastructure improvements
6. What We’re Doing In Bayonne
•Eliminate ~$125M of municipal debt
•Full management, innovation and
operational best practices
•Capital investment to modernize
water, sewer and storm water system
(~$110M over 40-years)
Moody …. revises Bayonne’s credit
outlook to “Stable” for the first time
in five years.
March 14, 2013
7. Answers to Key Questions…
Excess revenues
City remains owner
Governance and operational
standard setting
City sets tariff
Guaranteed staffing and job
opportunities
Extensive transition planning
Oversight of funding
RESOLUTIONS
Who maintains system
ownership
Vague operational and
technical standards
Loss of control over rates
Impact on employees
Windfall to concessionaire
Transition of services
CONCERNS
8. Featured Commitment at the Clinton
Global Initiative as an “innovative
partnership which meets one of the
world’s most pressing challenges”
Partnership of the Year’ at the American
Water Summit 2012 for having
delivered “the most dramatic
improvement in service and customer
value in the three most recent years”
is Gaining Recognition
