Seven years after New Jersey was battered by Hurricane Sandy, the state is once again being blanketed by heavy snow, sleet and rain as the so-called ‘bomb cyclone’ sweeps across the US. But in contrast to the chaos that hit the state’s wastewater treatment facilities in 2012 – where around 100 wastewater treatment plants and 427 water treatment plants were damaged or had power cut off, resulting in disastrous sewer overflows and drinking water quality problems – utilities are now boasting an array of developments aimed at making their infrastructure energy-independent and reducing the risks of another Sandy.

In the west of the state, the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority (CCMUA) is putting the final touches on a project that will take its infrastructure completely off-grid, with no need to buy electricity from external providers after April this year. And CCMUA executive director Andrew Kricun says that despite the passing of the best part of a decade, the memories of Hurricane Sandy are still very strong in Camden County.