Former PWC Commissioner Robert C. Williams Passed Away

Former Fayetteville Public Works Commission Chairman, Robert C. Williams, passed away on November 6, 2026. Williams was a retired educator who served on the PWC Board for 20 years, helping provide leadership and oversight for the community’s electric, water, and sanitary sewer systems.

Williams became PWC’s first African-American board member when appointed to the position by the City of Fayetteville City Council on July 27, 1981. He retired on June 30, 2001. He was first elected Chairman in 1991 and held that position four times throughout his tenure as a Commissioner.

His two decades of service placed him in a leadership role during an important period of utility and economic development in Fayetteville. Highlights of the utility’s growth during this period include the following:

General Operations

PWC purchased a 65-acre tract of land on Old Wilmington Road and began developing a centralized PWC Complex in order to consolidate all operating and administrative functions (1987). It opened in 1998.
Employees worked One Million Hours with no lost time incidents for the first time in PWC history (Oct. 25, 1994-Aug. 6, 1995).
PWC contributed to the completion of the Airborne & Special Operations Museum (2000).

Electric Service

Six generation units at PWC’s Butler-Warner Generation Plant were converted to a combined-cycle steam mode, which increased generating capacity to 260 megawatts (1988).
An energy storage (ice storage) system was added to the Butler-Warner Generation Plant for cooling the gas turbines in the summer peak season. At the time, it was one of the largest thermal energy storage plants in the world with 4.6 million gallons of ice storage capacity (1993).

Drinking Water Service

PWC’s P.O. Hoffer Water Treatment Facility capacity doubled to 32 million gallons a day (1988).
PWC’s Watershed Management Program was established (1990).
PWC’s Glenville Lake Water Treatment Facility expanded to 18 million gallons a day (1994).
A “Water Wise” themed garden was created at the Cape Fear Botanical Garden to educate customers on the financial, environmental, and horticultural wisdom of reducing water use in the lawn and garden (1997).
The Town of Hope Mills became a PWC water customer (1998).
PWC became a charter member of the Partnership for Safe Water and became the first utility in the state to be recognized with their Director’s Award (2000).

Sanitary Sewer Service

PWC’s Rockfish Creek Water Reclamation Facility was constructed (1985).
The Rockfish Creek Water Reclamation Facility received the EPA’s Operations and Maintenance Award (1988). The Cross Creek Water Reclamation Facility received the same honor a few years later (1994).
The 750-acre PWC farm was established to recycle biosolids taken from water reclamation facilities, helping to fertilize crops such as soybeans, corn, and small grains (1987).

In recognition of his long and distinguished service, PWC named the Robert C. Williams Business Center in his honor. The four-story, 57,787-square-foot downtown building was formally dedicated on September 29, 2000. The building was developed on the former site of the Hotel de Lafayette and was designed to reflect features of that historic property, including its red-brick exterior, first-floor storefront, and rounded corner tower.

When the business center opened in August 2000, it housed PWC’s Customer Service and Business Development departments. It continued serving as PWC’s Customer Service Center through 2009. Today it is home to several prominent businesses, including the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and ABC-WTVD 11/ABC Disney.

The naming of a major downtown public facility in Williams’ honor represents a lasting acknowledgment of his contributions and remains a visible and enduring part of his legacy.

PWC extends its deepest condolences to the Williams family during their time of bereavement. Services are entrusted to Colvin Funeral Home & Crematory of Fayetteville.