Using Business Cases to Guide Investment Decisions-WSSC Case Study

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) is a large water and wastewater utility serving 1.8 Million customers in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland adjacent to Washington, DC. WSSC owns over 750,000 assets, including water treatment, storage, and distribution; wastewater collection, treatment, and storage; and over 10,000 miles of buried infrastructure. The total asset replacement value is in excess of $40 Billion. WSSC’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget is $1.4 Billion and includes $700 Million for the capital improvement program (CIP) and $700 Million for operations and maintenance (O&M). As part of its Need Validation and Project Development Processes, WSSC has implemented a requirement that Business Case Evaluations (BCE) be completed for all investments in excess of $50,000 utilizing WSSC’s Asset Management Framework. As of December 2013, WSSC has redirected an estimated $28.5 Million of investment through the BCE Process.