Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Like the Gold Award for Exceptional Utility Performance, the criteria for the Platinum Award for Utility Excellence are based on the Ten Attributes of Effective Utility Management and the Keys to Management Success. Applicants are expected to show progress in implementing the attributes and keys, as well as a distinctive level of management expertise and expanded utility achievement.
Three years after winning a Gold Award, member utilities are eligible to apply for the Platinum Award for Utility Excellence.
Recent Award Winners
Fairfax Water
2012 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Fairfax Water, the largest drinking water utility in Virginia, has treatment plants capable of producing 345 MGD. Through the use of ozonation and activated carbon filters, as well as other treatment best practices, water quality consistently surpasses all federal standards. The utility’s strategic plan, which identifies strategies and action steps for key business areas (water quality, infrastructure, financial, staffing, customer service and technology), is an active working document for the organization. The strategic planning process guarantees the utility will leave a legacy of adequate water resources, financial soundness and environmental stability for the next generation.
JEA
2012 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
JEA of Jacksonville, Fla., has a constant focus on operational improvement through ongoing analysis via its TargetSmart program based on the Six Sigma methodology for significant process improvements and cost-savings across the organization. JEA has made tremendous production and infrastructure system investments and is now refining and streamlining its systems to ensure optimum performance. The utility continuously balances financial decisions that affect its ability to fund capital investments, thus reducing debt and managing costs that ultimately impact its rates. It consistently evaluates and aligns its performance to ensure that it stays competitive.
New York City Department of Environmental Protection
2012 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s strategic plan sets the stage for agency-wide improvement and metrics-driven performance to meet four strategic goals: operations, customer service, capital investment and sustainability. Its expansive watershed protection program guarantees the safety and quality of the water supply while promoting recreation and sustainable economic development. The utility is working to optimize operations by improving the function and maintenance of its linear infrastructure and installing automated meter-reading technology. Over the next ten years, it plans to invest $14 billion in capital projects to meet regulatory requirements and ensure long-term system sustainability, and will invest $1.5 billion in green infrastructure by 2030.
Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department
2012 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department incorporates the goals of its performance management plan into individual employee work plans and strives to improve its human capital through hands-on training, site visits and expert in-house seminars. In 2009, the utility’s AAA bond rating was reaffirmed due in part to its strategic long-range planning and asset management program. Financial planning allows for better implementation of necessary infrastructure improvements, particularly through automatic annual indexing of customer rates. Environmental stewardship is reflected through total water management, and its environmental footprint is reduced through conservation, energy efficiency and green house gas emissions reduction.
Prince William County Service Authority
2012 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Prince William County Service Authority (PWCSA) significantly upgraded its strategic plan by expanding and realigning its goals, strategies and practices. Operating savings overcame unit demand reductions to maintain financial strength while allowing for continued competitive, highly affordable rates. The utility produces best-in-class customer service metrics through training and process improvements. It created the Northern Virginia Learning Center of Excellence for Water and Wastewater Utilities, enabling 14 member utilities to share training costs. Every asset is located in GIS and linked to a comprehensive maintenance management system, and a fully funded replacement reserve can accommodate needs identified by a robust condition assessment program.
Saint Paul Regional Water Services
2012 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Saint Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS) takes seriously its mission to provide reliable, quality water and services at a reasonable cost and implements the mission daily in matters both large and small. Investment has been made in infrastructure and treatment process to improve the taste of the drinking water. SPRWS has provided its customers with greater access to their accounts and to pay bills, via the Web and a 24-hour phone line. The utility’s capital expenditures increased steadily through the past several years to fund an annual pipe replacement schedule of 10 to 11 miles per year. In addition, SPRWS has been fiscally prudent through all its investments in the future, increasing its Standard and Poor’s financial rating from AA+ to AAA.
Water Works Board of the City of Birmingham
2012 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Water Works Board of the City of Birmingham updated its strategic plan in the fall of 2011, crafted a comprehensive set of action items and identified performance measures for each strategic goal, all with a commitment toward continual improvement. The agency measures progress and performance by participation in QualServe benchmarking in 2004, 2006 and 2009; award-winning participation in the U.S. EPA Partnership for Safe Water (PSW) for seven years; recognition for four treatment plants meeting the Alabama Department of Environment Management’s Area Wide Optimization Program in 2012; and recognition for three of four plants that received PSW Level 3 Five-Year Directors Awards.
Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority
2011 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority (BJWSA) shifted its capital program from one driven by growth to one focused on renewal and replacement, accomplished major debt restructuring for significant savings, reduced staff by attrition, and restructured operations and consolidated major facilities for significant savings. The utility acquired the assets and a fifty-year franchise for utility service on the four military bases in its service area. BJWSA’s integrated water resources plan focuses the utility on an ambitious demand management program, major efforts in source water protection and significant increases in the reclamation and reuse of its wastewater effluent.
City of North Las Vegas Utilities Department
2011 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
City of North Las Vegas Utilities Department improvements include an automated payment system for increased customer convenience, infrastructure improvements based upon planning projections, and capacity analyses and maintenance surveys. Recent completion of a Membrane Bio-Reactor Water Reclamation Facility eliminates reliance on other agencies, provides a more stable rate structure for customers and enhances local water supply stewardship through higher levels of treatment. To optimize efficiency, an automated meter reading system was implemented, infrastructure models were updated and the GIS and asset management systems were enhanced. The Utilities Department is increasing citizen knowledge via outreach programs and is participating in an aquifer recovery program.
City of Tempe Water Utilities Division
2011 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
City of Tempe Water Utilities Division (WUD) piloted an organization-wide management initiative elevating its strategic planning efforts to new levels. The 4D operating system became the foundation of a participatory and collaborative learning and improvement environment and empowered WUD to effectively execute top-priority business and process improvements. Continuous strategic planning became an integral part of the utility culture and positively impacted various utility operations in providing clean, safe drinking water; collecting and safely treating wastewater; creating and maintaining a sustainable environment; maintaining competitive user rates; and providing a superior level of customer service. Emphasis was placed on efficiency, cost-effectiveness and energy conservation.
Greater Cincinnati Water Works
2011 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) began construction in 2010 on a 240-mgd ultraviolet treatment facility. When the facility becomes operational, GCWW will be the largest water utility in North America to use UV disinfection following sand filtration and granular activated carbon adsorption. In 2009, Standard & Poor’s upgraded the utility’s bond rating to AAA, and in 2010, Moody’s elevated its rating to Aaa, placing GCWW among the elite water utilities in America holding twin AAA ratings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency selected the utility to partner in its Water Security Initiative, which allows GCWW to proactively detect and respond to potential water contamination events.
Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District
2011 Platinum Award for Utility Excellence
Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District implemented sound financial management practices that yielded improved bond credit ratings and successful funding of an aggressive capital improvements program. Broad stakeholder involvement brought extensive community support in creating the Conservation Garden Park and Education Center and development of one of the nation’s largest groundwater remediation and potable water supply projects. Water demand management programs resulted in an 18 percent reduction in per capita water use. Safety incident rates were improved, and aggressive water quality goals are consistently reached. Asset management and best management practices provide efficient maintenance of infrastructure capacity and service levels.