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Stormwater Utility Fees in North Carolina: Fiscal Year 2020
The Environmental Finance Center has completed the 2020 North Carolina Stormwater Fee Survey. The survey includes 93 stormwater fee structures effective July 1, 2019. There are 6 utilities in this year’s survey that were not in last year’s survey. Additionally, there…
A Closer Look at MS4 Audit Trends in North Carolina
Written by: Ryan Vulpis In the state of North Carolina, many stormwater programs are required by the US EPA to maintain a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit. This permit is designed to ensure…
Yadkin Valley Sewer Authority: A Case Study of the Impact of COVID-19 on a North Carolina Wastewater Utility
The abrupt arrival of COVID-19 in the United States financially impacted businesses across all sectors, with water and wastewater utilities being no exception (see our previous blog post). Two major factors influenced revenue streams for…
COVID-19 and North Carolina Utilities: Impact Assessment of the Coronavirus Pandemic on North Carolina Water and Wastewater Utilities
August has been a key transition month for local government utilities in North Carolina as EO 124/142 (which prohibited disconnections due to non-payment for residential utility accounts) has expired, payment plans are required to be…
New State-Specific Resources on EFC Website
By: Erin Ansbro New growth has sprung up at EFC! To make our many resources more accessible, we have added “Resources by State” pages for all fifty states. The new layout changes include a clickable…
Financial Resilience: Tools to test a utility’s ability to “weather the storm”
These are unprecedented times. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, social norms have changed and unemployment has risen sharply across the nation. As states have pushed residents to stay home, water usage patterns have altered for…
Environmental Impact Bonds: Where are they now?
In 2017, the EFC wrote about an exciting new financial instrument: the Environmental Impact Bond (EIB). At the time of the original blog post, EIBs were mostly theoretical, the only one in existence being issued…
How are North Carolina Utilities Faring During the Pandemic? Four Key Insights from Survey Results
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, utilities across the nation continue to adapt to rapidly changing conditions through a number of measures, from suspending water shut-offs to implementing cost-saving maneuvers like reducing energy costs. To better…