CIP/IFR Program
Providence Water has an active Infrastructure Replacement Program in place which is intended to stave off deterioration and obsolescence. Providence Water began this program in 1990. The program was expanded in 1996 with the further availability of Infrastructure Replacement Funds.
In 1993, the state legislature was asked to adopt a law which would set aside portions of water revenue for a long-term planned infrastructure replacement program. The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, who recognized the same need as Providence Water did, provided funding incrementally for this program. Since 1993, Providence Water has allocated a portion of its revenue to ensure the reliability of the system into the next century.
The initial Infrastructure Replacement Plan was submitted in February 1996, with updated plans filed in 2001, 2006, 2010, 2015 and 2020 in accordance with the requirements of the Comprehensive Clean Water Infrastructure Act of 1993.
The plan is internally amended as needed to meet new challenges as they manifest themselves. An infrastructure replacement plan is a living document which must be monitored and amended periodically to meet the initial objective of the program under which it was established.
Since 1990, Providence Water has reinvested over $547 million into the utility’s infrastructure replacements and capital improvements. None of this could have happened had this program not been proposed by us initially, had the legislature and the Commission not supported the wisdom of the need, and had our engineers and workforce not dedicated themselves to this mission as we did.