WSSC operates and maintains two water reservoirs with a combined capacity of 14 billion gallons; two water filtration plants that produce an average of 167 million gallons of clean water per day; 14 water pumping stations; six wastewater treatment plants; and 43 wastewater pumping stations. The infrastructure includes 10,200 miles of water and sewer mains. With an operating budget of $494 million, WSSC is among the 10 largest water and wastewater utilities in the nation.

WSSC contracted with Constellation Energy's Projects & Services Group (CEPS) to reduce its energy and operational costs while increasing energy and operational efficiencies to meet the challenges of future demand. CEPS had to meet strict fiscal goals. The $10 million capital project would have to be self-funded. To ensure a positive cash flow, CEPS would have to capitalize on energy and operational savings while assisting WSSC in obtaining low-cost financing.

CEPS identified numerous energy conservation measures and technological solutions that would maximize energy and cost savings as well as achieve operational and maintenance savings. The CEPS audit also revealed that to use energy as efficiently as possible, WSSC would have to buy it as efficiently as possible. That meant purchasing competitively priced electricity on the open market. CEPS’s expertise in providing competitive electrical supply enabled WSSC to take full advantage of the deregulated energy marketplace.

WSSC systems were upgraded to both improve operational efficiencies and enhance the ability to procure competitive electric supply. CEPS then worked with WSSC to determine its balance of risk tolerance and budget certainty as it developed the supply strategy for both electric capacity and energy purchases. Then, CEPS competitively procured about 24 MW of generation capacity and more than 165,000,000 kWh of electricity with the balance supplied through the real-time markets. This agreement covers billing services and supplier account management over a five-year period at 22 facilities responsible for approximately 95 percent of WSSC’s overall electrical usage.

To complement the capital project implementation and commodity arrangement, on-going active load management services through peak shaving, load shaping and distributed generation are integrated into the supply-side procurement strategy. This further enhances the risk management function and the coordination of energy blocks and capacity bids. The next phase of project implementation includes reduction of natural gas usage, expansion of distributed generation, improvement of incinerator operations and further reduction of electrical usage.

CEPS successfully delivered on a long term project with guaranteed savings, competitively priced energy supply, efficient operations, reduced maintenance costs, increased reliability, and an upgraded infrastructure to meet energy demand for decades to come. To WSSC and its customers, inviting CEPS to prepare the way for future growth was a watershed event.

Operational savings from the $10 million capital project exceeded the project funding payments. CEPS assisted WSSC in obtaining long-term, low-interest financing through the State of Maryland’s Water Quality Revolving Loan Fund Program.