This is a time of rapid change for the utility industry, and the District is staying abreast of these changes as technology, efficiency and industry best practices evolve. One of the biggest changes in the industry is the growing awareness of the environmental impact of utility operations.
Since M.U.D.’s mission is to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective natural gas and water services to our community, we want to make sure these natural resources are managed well and protected for future generations.
M.U.D. developed a Sustainability Master Plan to outline our long-term goals.
Several years ago we published our first ever Sustainability Report. We are taking many steps to make our operations more sustainable, and in this report you will hear our stories.
Know that we are aware of the irony of our position: in our desire to help our customers conserve natural resources, we may end up selling less water and natural gas. The widespread changes in the industry demand this shift, and we are committed to finding ways to meet our commitments both to fiscal heath and to environmental responsibility. We also know that in pursuit of greater sustainability, we will never sacrifice quality, safety or reliability for our customer-owners.
This report represents a cohesive summary of the many efforts M.U.D. is taking across our organization to reduce our environmental footprint. Our goal is to present these efforts in one document so that our customer-owners, employees, directors and other stakeholders can understand our commitment to environmental sustainability.
We know from the calls and comments we receive that this issue is of high importance to our customer-owners. We share the value of making the Omaha metro area an even better place to live, work and play, and we are pleased to communicate the work we are doing in this area. At the same time, we know there is much more we can do. In coming years, we hope to report on even more exciting progress we can make as a utility that values sustainability.