Measuring Water Utility Success

June 30, 2025

Online Program

9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Central
0.3 CEUs available

Agenda

Water utilities are increasingly challenged across every facet of their operations. Learn about the Wisconsin Waterworks Excellence Project, hear from policy experts about how they are using data for rate setting, gain insight into how integrating big data can improve service, and hear from a panel of industry experts about how best to manage infrastructure and to effectively communicate potential changes to ratepayers and regulators.

9:00                        Welcome Remarks
Kristy Nieto, Commissioner, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin

9:05 – 9:50          Wisconsin Waterworks Excellence Project – Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Waterworks Excellence Project (WWEP) released school-style report cards that assign grades to every regulated drinking water utility in Wisconsin. Learn about WWEP’s goals, what it has discovered, and how its report cards shape perceptions, conversations, and policy decisions.
Manuel Teodoro, Professor, La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison

9:50 – 10:30        Accessing and Utilizing Data – Policy experts share their insight on the usefulness of available data and how it may inform rate setting decisions, including best practices and lessons learned.
Moderator:
Andy Galvin, Administrator, Division of Water Utility Regulation and Analysis, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin
Panel:
Andrew Burnham, Vice President, Management & Technology Consulting, Stantec
David Catt, Senior Associate, Ernst & Young
Christine DeMaster, Principal/Senior Consultant, Trilogy Consulting
Ahmed Rachid El-Khattabi, Interim Executive Director, Environmental Finance Center, School of Government, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

10:30 – 10:40      Break

10:40 – 11:20       Integrating Data to Improve Service – Understand how digital technologies can be used to assist water utility managers with various metrics to provide a better understanding of how a water utility system behaves and how it can be improved.
David Katz, Adjunct Associate Professor, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University; Senior Lecturer, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Haifa

11:20 – 12:00       Data Sharing and Communication – Water utility managers must grapple with the pressures of limited budgets, staff, and access to technology. How can they also manage their infrastructure as well as effectively communicate about changes needed with ratepayers and regulators?
Moderator:
Lawrie Kobza, Of Counsel, Boardman Clark
Panel:
Steve Elmore, Director, Drinking and Groundwater Program, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Rebecca Shelton, Director, Department of Water Resources, Gwinnett County
Kelley Dearing Smith, Vice President, Communications and Marketing, Louisville Water

Registered attendees will be given web conference details and access to electronic materials.