Norwich — Norwich Public Utilities and the city utilities commission will continue to pursue economic development expansions both in Norwich and surrounding towns, while attempting to improve communications with the public and city officials regarding those efforts.

The Board of Public Utilities Commissioners adopted a five-year strategic plan Tuesday, which addresses the need to expand services by adding both business and residential customers, while also promoting energy efficiencies, technology improvements and services, possibly including public wi-fi.

NPU has been criticized recently for seeking to expand into surrounding towns to accommodate business expansions in those towns, especially if those efforts are funded by NPU. Utilities officials and supporters have countered that such expansions benefit the city, as well as the entire region, and boost utility revenue, which also adds to the gross revenue sharing turned over to the city.

The five-year plan calls for NPU to “pursue new customer growth in Norwich and the region,” including completing current projects and marketing natural gas connections for property owners along the existing natural gas lines and marketing other energy-efficient heating units for areas not served by natural gas.

Outside the city, NPU will continue expanding the city’s water and sewer service areas, electric and natural gas “to other towns as appropriate.” These include completing the Sprague emergency water connection started two weeks ago and completing water interconnections into Preston that could link with Groton, completing a water and sewer expansion along Route 32 in Franklin, funded by Franklin, and completing a water and sewer line along Route 82 in Bozrah.

The plan calls for NPU to “continue to work with neighboring communities as developments occur.”

NPU hopes to secure additional bond funding for natural gas expansions into Preston, where Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment plans a major development at the former Norwich Hospital property. Norwich voters approved natural gas bond funding for that project previously, but NPU spokesman Chris Riley said Norwich natural gas expansions were in such high demand that the funding was used for immediate expansions, while the Preston project has not yet started.

Norwich last year was approved for three federally designated Opportunity Zones, where investors can receive tax breaks for participating in economic development projects. NPU hopes to support development within those zones.

NPU also plans to “evaluate partnering/regionalizing” the proposed $100 million upgraded needed to the city sewer treatment plant. Pursuing intermunicipal agreements with surrounding towns for all four utility divisions is part of that effort.

NPU will try to improve communication both with its own board of commissioners and with the city on so-called investment activities by NPU.

The plan included internal measures NPU and the board have taken to overcome the turmoil that has dominated the board and NPU for the past three years in the wake of public outcry over lavish trips to the Kentucky Derby by Norwich representatives to the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative. Local ethics violations forced the resignation of the former board chairwoman and vice chairman and led to a separation agreement with former NPU General Manager John Bilda.

NPU and the board recently completed an extensive ethics training program and established an ethics hotline and email for NPU employees and soon will unveil a public telephone hotline and email.

“We have the most robust ethics training program in the city by far,” board Chairman Robert Staley said Tuesday.

Stacey Smith, senior counsel for the public relations and management firm Jackson, Jackson and Wagner, which worked with NPU staff and the board to compile the plan, gave the board a brief overview of the eight goals in the plan Tuesday prior to the unanimous vote to endorse it.

“The next step at this point, once you adopt this, is to take your plan out to the community and bring them up to speed on whatever it is you’re going to be doing in the next three to five years,” Smith told the board Tuesday, “meetings with city commissions and boards, your business communities, your key community and civic leaders and public officials.”

c.bessette@theday.com