SILVER SPRING, Md. - Officials from WSSC Water testified before the Montgomery County Council Monday to answer questions about a September 29 power failure at the Potomac Filtration Plant.
What we know:
The outage triggered a two-day water emergency and forced nearly two million people across Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to restrict their water use.
READ MORE | WSSC Water lifts essential-use request after temporary fix at Potomac plant
The hearing comes as councilmembers review WSSC Water’s upcoming budget and consider how to fund critical infrastructure repairs without burdening customers with steep rate increases.
The Potomac Filtration Plant serves nearly 75% of water customers in both counties.
WSSC Water Potomac Water Filtration Plant
Aging infrastructure
WSSC General Manager and CEO Kishia Powell told council members that the outage underscored the urgent need to address the aging systems inside the facility.
"The team has been trying to understand the root causes of that, and we believe they’ve identified the specific issues, but overall the power system at Potomac is aged just as the plant is. We’re dealing with original equipment," Powell testified.
She added that the incident "really confirmed what we know, which is that we have fragile power systems inside the plant and we need to have more redundancy as well."
Powell said that the utility must shift its financial priorities to address facility needs directly.
"We need to re-baseline our capital program because we are spending a lot more on water main reconstruction and not investing in our facilities as much as we needed to," she said.
To address the vulnerabilities, WSSC testified that it is planning $11.8 million in electrical upgrades at the Potomac plant. The utility’s preliminary FY2028 budget also includes $585.5 million dedicated specifically to water infrastructure.
Councilmembers voice concerns
What they're saying:
Montgomery County Council Transportation & Energy Committee Chairman Evan Glass warned that routine maintenance is directly linked to water reliability.
"You think about sewers and pipes, but here we are talking about electricity and a disconnect that happened that caused a water crisis for two days," Glass said. "I think what this incident illuminates for residents and anyone who uses water are the vulnerabilities are even greater than what we imagined."
Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González said that rate hikes will likely be unavoidable to fund these necessary improvements and prevent future emergencies.
"I don’t think we get to say ‘no’ when it comes to basic infrastructure investment that we need. It’s not a choice, I think it’s a ‘must’ because what you don’t want is to be in your house and all of a sudden you don’t have water," Fani-González said.
Acknowledging the financial strain on ratepayers, she added, "It is a fee that we’ll need to increase on residents. It makes it really hard on people, so it’s a balance, but it’s a question that is going to come back again and again, and we don’t have the luxury to say ‘we’re not going to do another rate increase.’"
Beyond local funding options, both WSSC officials and councilmembers emphasized that the issue extends beyond the county and state levels. They called on the federal government to increase its funding for water infrastructure projects rather than leaving the financial burden entirely on taxpayers and customers.
The Source: Information in this article is from a Montgomery County Council hearing and previous FOX 5 DC reporting.