Water and Energy Utilitites: Improving Collaboration

Recent years have seen a burst of interest in the relationship of energy and water use and savings. This nexus has been defined and even quantified in many ways. The technical aspects of this nexus are becoming well understood, and technologies are emerging to address both energy savings in water systems and water savings in the energy sector. The number and success of programs that save both end-use water and energy is growing.But the water and energy sectors operate in different worlds. It seems we don't speak the same language, even when we are trying to. Without a way to find common economic and political ground and create opportunities to work together for mutual benefit, significant progress in water and energy savings will remain elusive.This paper focuses on water and energy utility collaboration for end-user water and energy efficiencies. It, explores some of the key differences in the water and energy utility sectors, identifies barriers to collaborative program success, and suggests opportunities for greater collaboration. Besides differences in the dominant management systems (public or private), utilities differ in pricing and rate structures, utility size and numbers, and state regulatory structures, organizations and constraints. This affects utility objectives, finances, and how demand management and efficiency are treated within each sector.Discussion is based on interviews with leading practitioners in the water and energy fields, institutional obstacles from program experience, and barriers and solutions identified by a workshop of water and energy conservation practitioners, as well as available literature summarizing each of the two sectors. The goal of this work is to articulate and understand these differences, in order to improve communication and contribute to more and better joint program efforts.