Each essential. Each dependent on the other.
Susan N. Story is president and CEO of American Water, the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, serving an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada. Before joining American Water in 2013, she spent 31 years in the electricity and energy business.
Safe. Clean. Reliable. Affordable.
Whether we are a water, electric, or gas utility, these four characteristics are what our customers, communities, and regulators expect from us.
We know that energy use affects how water utilities provide essential services to our customers and how much those services cost. Yet the reverse also is true. Energy cannot be produced without sustainable water supplies, whether we are generating electricity or producing natural gas.
According to the EPA, every sector of the U.S. economy is influenced by water. Energy production, water supply, and food production together account for over 94 percent of water withdrawals from groundwater, streams, rivers, and lakes in the United States. Water and energy are interdependent. Water is required for the energy generation process, and energy is necessary for water and wastewater services.
Consider water's role in energy, and vice versa: