Learn More About the Utility Management Committee

Originally printed in the Winter 2016/17 issue of NC Currents magazine.

When a leak is reported by a customer to a call center, customer service typically sends someone out to investigate, often resulting in a work order to field operations. Depending on the nature of the leak, the issue could require further intervention from distribution and plants. “There are a lot of linkages there,” notes Westin Engineering’s Chip Harris, currently the vice chair of the Utility Management Committee. “From a business process standpoint, to make those linkages from the plant all the way through to customer service requires a cross-functional focus across the utility operation.”

The NC AWWA-WEA board of trustees recently reconfigured the former Finance and Management Committee to encompass this wider focus, rebranding Utility Management Committee the group as the Utility Management Committee. “Before, the group tended to focus more on the customer-facing side of the utility,” acknowledges Harris. “Our aim is to fortify the operational and management linkages so we can remain connected with finance and customer service while expanding the focus to also include field operations/ distribution and treatment.” In the example of a reported leak above, there are touchpoints for critical utility management priorities related to Asset Management, Aging Infrastructure, and Capital Projects Funding – all of which ultimately affect customers. Making those linkages, he adds, is both a goal and a challenge.

Knowing that LaBella’s Brian Houston would be up to the challenge, NC AWWAWEA asked him if he would chair the new Utility Management Committee. The former Florida Water Environment Association president-elect accepted and then, realizing that former members of the discontinued Finance Committee were likely to be interested in participating, he reached out to a number of them. A few, including Harris, came on board. In turn they recruited others from all across the state.

From four members in attendance at the inaugural February 2016 meeting, the committee has grown to a roster of 16, representing a wide distribution. “We have broad representation of the industry,” acknowledges Houston, noting that along with consultants and utility managers, the committee includes a number of people from government agencies as well as a representative from the University of North Carolina School of Government.
Meeting monthly by teleconference – with one in-person meeting in Cary last August – the committee spent most of 2016 focused on determining how to best meet the needs of the board and the membership. To identify topics that will be important for the committee to address, Houston started by approaching NC AWWA-WEA members Julie Hellmann, Leila Goodwin, and Jackie Jarrell. They highlighted areas such as procurement, finance, workforce issues, and funding. “They pointed out that none of these topics were currently being addressed,” says Houston. “In a way, we’re the catchall for issues that are non-technical in nature, all the things that the director of utilities worries about.”

The Utility Management Committee also created a survey that NC AWWA-WEA sent out to all utility members in order to find out what they wanted the committee to do for them. “I see our activity as being a service to the utility employee membership of NC AWWA-WEA,” says Houston. “I want to make sure that what we are doing is providing value to those members.” The survey asked utility members “what do you want from us, and what are the highest priorities of things we can do for you?”
One of the recurring themes that surfaced from the survey, as well as from Houston’s conversation with Hellman, Goodwin, and Jarrell, were workforcerelated issues. In response, the committee organized The Aging Workforce Panel to be held in the first half of 2017. Panelists will emcompass a range of peole who face these particular issues. Says Houston, “We will allow participants to ask the panelists questions and have some questions prepared for them as well. The hope is that the event will provide a lot of value in terms of understanding some of the best practices, as well as an opportunity to share ideas with other people who are facing similar issues.”
Workforce issues were only one of many topics distilled from the survey. In fact, the top priority was identified as asset management, followed closely by customer service. During a meeting at the NC AWWA-WEA Annual Conference in November, the committee started making plans around these topics. At the same time, the Utility Management Committee focused on developing curriculum for the customer service topics of the Academy and supporting the Institutes. “We know this is a priority for NC AWWA-WEA,” says Houston. “We are looking forward to having the opportunity to help out.”
Harris adds that the committee hopes to meet the needs of all types of systems. “We are trying to cultivate participation from some of the smaller utilities,” he explains. “The larger utilities tend to have greater interest, but the committee is working to make connections with smaller utilities to understand common needs.” He points out that issues such as succession planning and knowledge retention affect both large and small utilities alike.

“As we expand our membership we will try to host more regional events,” says Harris, underlining the importance of reaching into the far western and eastern reaches of the state. “Travel dollars are always a consideration for

utilities.”

“Our goal is to provide benefit to utility managers in any way we can,” adds Houston. “I hope a year or so down the road a lot of utilities around the state will feel that’s exactly what we’re doing.”