October 17, Pyle Center, Room 313
Parking is available in the Lake Street Ramp. After leaving the ramp, walk 2 blocks toward Lake Mendota. The Pyle Center is at the corner of Lake and Langdon
About the Program:
The water utility industry in Wisconsin is a rising cost industry, facing increasing challenges to remain financially viable and provide high quality, affordable service. These challenges include: industry fragmentation, mounting infrastructure needs, rate design that does not reflect replacement costs, and loss of customer demand due to conservation and economic pressures. The purpose of this forum is to gain an understanding of the costs drivers in the industry and to explore barriers and opportunities for moving forward to meet new demands. This session will address options for meeting the challenge of rising costs associated with any number of issues now facing an aging water system infrastructure. One promising option is to pursue cooperation among systems to achieve benefits of scale and best use of resources yet still maintaining your system identity.
REGISTRATION SITE:
(Note to first time users you will not have a password for registration, enter your name and proceed to the next screen)
Who Should Attend |
Logistics |
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Site: Pyle Center Date: October 17, 2013Credits: 6.75 CLEs, 7 CEUsFee: $20 Gov’t, $65 WPUI Member, $85 non-member Limited number of scholarships are available for non-profit organizations- please contact samb@wpui.org for more information |
Final Program Agenda
Time | Topic, Presenter | Objective |
8:15 | Welcome:Jeff Mayers, President, WisPolitics | Introduce the topic and outline for the programCara Lee, Director, WPUI introduces Jeff Mayers, Program Moderator |
8:30 | Matt McCaffree, Government Relations Director, National Association of Water Companies | National overview of water industry – trends and challenges |
9:30 | Environmental Perspective in Wisconsin:Jill Jonas, WDNR | Specific trends and challenges for Wisconsin utilities |
10:15 | Break | |
10:30 | Panel of Wisconsin Utilities:Dave Vaclavik, Central Brown County Water AuthorityMike Rau, Water Consultant,Dave Lawrence, WRWA
Nilaksh Kothari, Manitowoc Public Utilities |
What are the challenges for enhancing cooperation in Wisconsin? Does Wisconsin’s regulatory framework discourage cooperation? This session will explore the challenges and approaches for specific utilities in Wisconsin and will highlight the benefits and drawback of various approaches. Each panelist will provide a 10-15 minute overview of how regionalization has been used to overcome specific barriers in their situation, and what the outcomes were. The session will then be open to questions from the audience |
12:00 | Lunch & Networking | |
12:45 | The Regulatory Perspective:PSC Chair Phil Montgomery | Overview of the economic importance of water to Wisconsin economy and jobs, and utility industry trends and challenges. |
1:00 | Paul Foran, Former Illinois Commissioner | Responses to managing rising costs from across the nation with different business models. |
1:45 | Robert P. Ryall, Principal, B&V Management Consulting | The Changing U.S. Water Industry
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2:45 |
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4:00 | Adjourn | Save the Date!
Operations costs Low head hydro |