Electric Power Reliability For Public Water Supply And Wastewater Utilities

AWWA Policy Statement on Electric Power Reliability For Public Water Supply And Wastewater Utilities

AWWA believes that every water and wastewater utility should set uninterrupted service as a high priority operating goal and include potential service interruptions in its risk assessment and resiliency plan in compliance with the American Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA). For small agencies (50,000 people or less), the Risk and Resilience Assessments (RRAs) and development of Emergency Response Plans (ERPs) are recommended. Larger agencies should utilize EPA’s Vulnerability Self-Assessment Tool (VSAT) or other risk assessment tools. Avoiding extended interruptions in water service is essential for fire safety, sustaining local economies, maintaining public trust, and protecting public health and the environment.

To provide uninterrupted service, water and wastewater systems require an acceptable level of electric power reliability. Every utility is unique with respect to its vulnerability to electric supply disruption and must undertake a critical assessment of the issue based on specific local conditions. For some utilities, even a small electric service outage can have significant consequences. Redundancy of supply and/or backup generating capacity has in the past provided a reasonable level of energy reliability. Due to escalating risk of failure of the national electrical infrastructure due to deferred maintenance, power supply shortages, natural disaster, physical or cyber-attacks, a more intensive assessment of potential vulnerabilities and consequences associated with disruptions in power supply is required. It is imperative that these assessments of potential power disruptions include participation and input from your local electric utility.

It is advised that facilities consider the technological and financial resources being deployed to support the modernization of the national electric grid. Distributed Energy Resources in the form of renewable generation and/or advance energy storage systems should be evaluated for backup energy, primary energy generation, and increased energy management capabilities with respect to cost and risk. Financial resources that can mitigate the direct cost of projects are periodically made available through legislation at both the state and federal level. Prior to initiating new energy infrastructure projects, agencies should investigate any applicable funding sources available.

Every public water supply and wastewater utility should assess the likelihood and consequences of a power supply disruption, identify critical vulnerabilities, and consider alternative power or supply redundancy to mitigate service disruptions. While developing RRAs/VSATs and ERPs water utilities should consider and plan for power disruptions that last for several days to weeks. As part of this process, careful assessment must be performed to quantify how much water and wastewater service (such as minimum daily demand) can be assured, given local circumstances. In addition, every utility’s ERP should include a public communications plan tailored to its needs and circumstances in case of an electric supply disruption.

Practices specified in this policy statement are consistent with all other pertinent AWWA policy statements.

Adopted by the Board of Directors June 8, 1975, revised Jan. 31, 1982, and Jan. 28, 1990, and June 11, 2000, and June 13, 2004, and Jan. 17, 2010, Jan 19, 2014, and October 28, 2019, March 27, 2025.