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Mapping Customers that may Need Additional Assistance in 8 Simple Steps
Bad debt plagues every utility: electric, water, sewer, phone, gas – you name it. A utility can spend thousands of dollars trying to recover the costs of delinquent accounts, and unfortunately, utilities with bad debt…
No Butts left Behind: How to Pay for Cigarette Butt Collection and Recycling
Conventional wisdom holds the universal truth that littered cigarette butts are unsightly; an undesirable side effect of a habit which most smokers wish they could drop. But while many smokers may not be successful in…
Three States With Laws Allowing Water Utility Customer Assistance Programs
Unlike your favorite TV show, college football, or even your cell phone, water is a truly vital part of life. However, many Americans may still not have affordable access to this necessity. The question of…
Three Strategies to Reduce Costs: Purchasing Partnerships for Water Systems
Drinking water and wastewater systems may be able to reduce costs by partnering with other systems. These partnerships can range from informal agreements to the transfer of ownership and creation of a new utility. This…
A Tale of Two Water Authorities: Paying for excess capacity in shared water and wastewater systems
Dividing the costs of shared water infrastructure equitably among many potential users may not be as straightforward as it seems. In particular, infrastructure designed to meet future demands in a growing region will not operate…
A Double Standard? Debt Financing of Distributed Infrastructure Projects: A Legal Perspective
When a water utility seeks to increase supply to address a growing population in the community which it serves, most states have very clear laws that would allow such a utility to issue revenue bonds…
Three State Programs that Assist Local Capital Planning & Statewide Infrastructure Needs Assessment
The EPA’s 2011 Report to Congress on the Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment, which estimated infrastructure capital needs of $384.2 billion over the next 20 years, includes a short line that has stuck…
WaterCARE: Four Common Challenges Facing Water and Wastewater Systems
Earlier this year, the EFC at UNC, in partnership with the Southwest Environmental Finance Center and other members of the Environmental Finance Center Network, started work on WaterCARE (Community Assistance for Resiliency and Excellence in…