130 Years of Ideas, Advocacy, And Education
Mary-Anna Holden is a former Commissioner at the New Jersey BPU. Butch Howard is a former Commissioner at the South Carolina PSC.
Those of us in the wonderful world of water want to thank Public Utilities Fortnightly magazine for allowing us — former South Carolina Commissioner John "Butch" Howard and former New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Commissioner Mary-Anna Holden, who each have chaired NARUC's Committee on Water — the opportunity to share with the regulatory world the issues and challenges facing the private water sector.
In this first installment, we feature the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) on its one hundred thirtieth anniversary. NAWC has been a strong ally and vital resource to NARUC and in particular its Committee on Water.
Water seems like such a simple utility. However, if your water is being drawn from surface water such as a river or a reservoir or pumped from a buried aquifer, its treatment will be very different, in fact, quite complex. Pennsylvania water suppliers recognized this as early as 1895 when they formed an association to represent their interests with policymakers and consumers.
By 1959, its five neighboring states of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland joined the association, expanding its mission to include regulators and shareholders. Three years later, private and investor-owned water utilities began joining nationally, recognizing the benefits of advocating with larger constituency groups, including engineering firms, contractors, and equipment vendors.