from a break and to prosecute their own claims when breaks
are not caused by either the utility’s actions or failure to act. It
includes checklists of recommended practices before, during,
and after failure events. This project also developed three brief
training videos that highlight the recommended practices.
THIS PROJECT PROVIDES an industry guide for drinking water
utilities on legal protection and claims management issues before,
during, and after infrastructure failure events. The guide provides
background information on the legal principles governing this
area of the law and effective measures utilities can employ both
to defend themselves from the claims of those asserting damages
Best Practices for Water Utility Legal Protection and
Claims Management from Infrastructure Failure
Events (project #4369)
current, emerging, and “out of the box”
strategies available to utilities to build
a resilient business model. In addition
to the research report and a two part
archived Webcast, the project produced
two spreadsheet tools: a Revenue Risk
Assessment Tool and Customer Assistance
Program Cost Estimation Tool.
side of the equation. The analysis clearly
shows that there is not one generalizable
“new normal” or inevitable pre-ordained
financial outcome for the industry. There
are clearly differences between regions,
states, and utilities. The project also pro-
vides practices that have the potential
to improve the financial resiliency of the
water utility industry, with examples of
THIS RESEARCH PROVIDES an assessment
of the financial condition and revenue
model of water utilities in North America
and the factors influencing financial per-
formance. While it seems most research
and high-profile policy papers today focus
on the “cost” side of the financial balance
utilities must navigate, this project pri-
marily addresses the revenue and rates
Defining a Resilient Business Model for Water
Utilities (project #4366)
