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The 2012 Utility Construction Outlook
Powering American
Competitiveness
By Mark Bridgers and Nate Scott
America’s economic competitiveness is under threat
and the convergence of power, water and sewer
infrastructure integrated through communication
technology is one solution to an economic
competitive advantage. This convergence matters because the
ability to efficiently generate and distribute power combined
with access to clean water integrated by highly effective
communication technology can form the basis of the next
generation of “American Exceptionalism.”
Unfortunately, the slowing economy has created fear
that American competitiveness is evaporating. American
competitiveness has always been based on the amount, quality
and application of our resources leveraged by our infrastructure,
not short-term economic vacillations. While our fundamental
resources are robust, our infrastructure is rotting. President
Obama alluded to this fact on September 8, 2011: “…We
have to look beyond the immediate crisis and start building an
economy that lasts into the future.”
More important than replacing aging utility infrastructure
throughout America is recognizing that we stand at the verge of
the next generation of “American Exceptionalism” — all we have
to do is grab it. The convergence of critical infrastructure is an
engine for American competitiveness, requiring the ability to
efficiently generate and distribute power combined with access
to clean water integrated by highly effective communication
technology. Contractors that possess superior capabilities in
two or more of these sectors are well positioned to thrive in
2012 and beyond.
History of American Competitiveness
America is resource rich. The United States and our neighbor
Canada lead the world in possession of many important resources.
The United States and Canada account for 5 percent of world
12 Utility Contractor | November 2011
population and control 13 percent of the arable land, 15 percent of
the oil production, 28 percent of the coal and produce 24 percent
of the electricity. Still, our resources are limited. Making use of
them in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way challenges
America’s entrepreneurial capability to adapt and overcome
through building new and maintaining existing infrastructure.
Competiveness requires more than resources. U.S. Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) is the world’s largest at $14.5 trillion
and by comparison, the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India
and China lag. China and India account for 37 percent of
world population but rank below the United States in nearly
every hard-to-replicate resource. One reason for this difference
is infrastructure. American entrepreneurs and farsighted
government leaders created and reinvented an infrastructure
advantage to complement our resources for most of our history.
BRIC leaders are attempting the same feat through new highquality
infrastructure. The necessary infrastructure for advantage
changes over time and is shifting again favoring convergence of
water, wastewater, power and communication resources. It is
time to reinvent America, as our forefathers did:
• 1800-1860 — American competitiveness based upon water
and canal transportation.
• 1860-1900 — American competitiveness based upon rail
transportation.
• 1900-1950 — American competitiveness based upon rapid
industrialization.
• 1950-1980 — American competitiveness based upon highway
and air transportation.
• 1980-2000 — American competitiveness based upon
information technology.
• The future?