Underground Construction - July 2019 - 6

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READER FEEDBACK
Editor's Note: The following comment is in response to the May column of
Editor-in-Chief Robert Carpenter titled "Renewing a Community of Cooperation."

Just wanted to drop you a line that I thoroughly enjoyed your editorial
on the Massachusetts incident. I am proud to say that we ARE that kind
of industry that pulls together for a common cause, which is why
I love being in this industry.
Well done.
George Ragula
PSE&G
Newark, NJ

UCT-EVENTS
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Diversified Infrastructure Providers Reshaping
Private Water Landscape

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JULY 2019 | UConOnline.com

The U.S. municipal water landscape is
undergoing a transformation, as critical infrastructure services - water, gas, and electricity
- converge under single investor-owned
utility banners. This trend is highlighted by
the growing roster of diversified infrastructure service providers owning water and
wastewater utilities in the U.S., according to a
new report from Bluefield Research.
U.S. Private Water Utilities: Drivers,
Competitive Landscape and Acquisition
Trends, 2019, offers in-depth analysis of
investor-owned water utility strategies and
water/wastewater system acquisitions. Of 517
transactions from 2015 to 2018, 366 were
executed by private buyers. While ushering
in new market entrants and reshaping the
competitive landscape, regionally, these
deals also reflect growing interest in private
investment in the U.S. municipal water sector
from water industry outsiders.
"The consolidation of critical infrastructure
services is not a new phenomenon, and cur-

rent market conditions are re-reinforcing this
trend," said Reese Tisdale, president of Bluefield Research. "This most-recent wave of
M&A feels different in that municipalities and
system owners are being forced to weigh the
benefits of outsourcing against owning and
operating a portfolio of aging assets."
These diversified service providers are
poised to gain from their proven experience
with utility commissions, rate cases, customer
management and infrastructure finance. They
are also going head-to-head with well-established investor-owned utilities (IOUs). Given
the mounting financial, regulatory, and environmental pressures on municipal water and
wastewater systems - particularly for smaller,
private system owners - the steady flow of
M&A is expected to continue and open the
door further to new entrants.
While the municipal market, as a whole,
is highly fragmented, the private share of the
market is more structured. The IOU landscape
is segmented among well-established front-

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Underground Construction - July 2019

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