The Damage Prevention Challenge:
Billions Lost to Waste & Inefficiency
(Summary)
A white paper published in April 2023 by the Infrastructure Protection Coalition (IPC) stands as a “call to action.” It is designed for state and federal legislators and government agencies to address failures in the nation’s damage prevention system used to protect the public and prevent damage to underground utility lines. These failures are responsible for over $30 billion in annual societal and utility line damage costs1, and an additional $61 billion in annual waste and excess costs2
.Who bears the burden of these costs? The answer: all utility service users. Regardless of where or how these costs originate, they are incorporated in contractor pricing to utility clients and passed on by the utilities to their customers, the rate-payer, via rate cases.
There is a solution that will recapture a large portion of these costs. Recovery can be accomplished through the implementation of 13 recommendations proposed within the white paper. There is an opportunity to eliminate $40 billion of the combined $91 billion in damage and waste costs if appropriate action is taken.
A study released in November 2021, commissioned by the IPC, a group of associations representing broadband, electric, natural gas distribution, liquid/gas pipelines, transportation, sewer, and water industries, who design, construct, maintain or locate these underground systems, identifies the causes contributing to the failures within the system. The recommendations identified by the study can serve as a guide to regulators, legislators, and other stakeholders as they explore the development and implementation of a damage prevention system that is both safe and efficient.
These recommendations come at a critical time for the nation’s infrastructure as the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will result in tens of thousands of miles of traditional highway, bridge, road, broadband, and water & sewer infrastructure construction along with new underground electric and CO2 and hydrogen pipeline and storage facilities, all of which will be near existing underground utilities.
Change is a follower of action…the overall magnitude of risk to public safety as well as the steep cost of the system failures, dictate that action be taken now. This can be accomplished through legislative efforts at both the state and federal levels. In addition, adoption of these recommendations by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) as part of the 2023 pipeline safety reauthorization will add significant influence to the efforts needed at the state and local levels. It represents an unprecedented opportunity for much needed proactive damage prevention system improvements. PHMSA can take one of the first steps in the recovery of billions of dollars of waste and lead the way to an overall safer and more efficient damage prevention system.
1 www.commongroundalliance.com/dirt-dashboard
2 www.ipcweb.org
Read the White Paper