The challenges associated with designing and implementing water conservation finance strategies are multifaceted. First, stakeholders must agree on the initial environmental problem and forge an agreement of action. Second, participants must identify who should pay for protection efforts and where … Read more

Many government-owned wastewater systems in the United States are enterprise funds.  That is, they are business-like units within the overall government that should be self-sustaining, taking their revenue from the rates and fees charged to wastewater customers rather than from … Read more

This is Part 2 of a 2 part blog post on utility financial risk. Part 1 focuses on utility revenue risk, and Part 2 focuses on utility debt risk. In our first blog post on utility financial risk, we discussed … Read more

To address the huge costs of stormwater management, communities across the nation are creating new programs to attract investment. But what are the key conditions and governing structure needed to encourage higher private investment in localized stormwater management? The EFC … Read more

In honor of the World Cup that began last night, we are re-posting a wonderful image that made quite a splash online a few years ago. EPCOR Utilities, Inc., the water utility that serves the City of Edmonton in Canada, … Read more

This is Part 1 of a 2 part blog post on utility financial risk. Part 1 focuses on utility revenue risk and Part 2 focuses on utility debt risk. On April 29, 2014, the Texas-based utility Energy Future Holdings Corp. … Read more

Big News in the World of Innovative Water Rate Design Last week, one of the most interesting water rate structures we’ve seen recently was narrowly voted down in a referendum vote.  After several years of debate and campaigns to win … Read more