Extending the utility analysis and integration model at the energy water nexus

In the coming decades, water utilities will be exposed to greater pressures. Some of these, like ageing infrastructure, and decreasing availability of public funds are old but set to intensify. And yet others like energy efficiency, climate change, and resilience in smart cities are emerging drivers. A conceptual reference business model (Utility Analysis and Integration Model, or UAIM) that defines the essential aspects of utility performance and provides a structure that allows utilities to accelerate and sustain overall performance improvement was introduced to provide tools for improving the overall utility performance prompting reliance on the individual talents and extensive experience of utility managers in the industry. The UAIM seeks to leverage the significant improvements in local performance, aided by diverse technologies and automation (e.g. software, IT systems) that target specific user groups and business processes within a utility. The UAIM concepts of People, Process, and Technology overlaid with Strategic, Technical and Operational dimensions can provide powerful insight into operations of an infrastructure enterprise at a micro-level or intra-utility perspective. As we seek to solve increasingly complex infrastructure challenges which span multiple sectors (water, wastewater, energy, solid waste, etc.), the UAIM can be extended to a cross-sector perspective.