Mary Tiger is the Chief Operating Officer for the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina. Under the common residential water use pricing model, utilities face a trade-off between reliance on a stable base charge (a fixed fee … Read more

Welcome to the Environmental Finance Blog. The purpose of the blog is to support communities interested in sustainable and innovative financing mechanisms for delivering environmental services such as clean water and energy /waste management.   Bloggers include staff of the EFC, other … Read more

Using comprehensive rate data, this data visualization explores and compares the financial savings associated with water efficient technology in North Carolina and Georgia.

The EFC and the North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM) conducted a statewide survey of the financial practices and policies of North Carolina drinking water and wastewater utilities between November 2010 and January 2011. 277 local government owned and not-for-profit utilities participated … Read more

This capstone answers the following questions: How do utilities in North Carolina recover capital costs through water purchasing agreements? Is a minimum purchase of water required? Are capital costs dealt with up-front or annually? Utilizing research and data collected by … Read more

The North Carolina State Water Infrastructure Commission (SWIC) adopted this guidance document, prepared in part by the EFC, which lists rate structure and billing options that utilities can choose to implement in order to support water conservation in the long-term. … Read more

This article provides an examination of “full cost pricing” practices using rates, revenues and expenditures data for nearly 900 utilities in Georgia and North Carolina, results of focus groups and communications with technical assistance providers on pricing attitudes and practices, … Read more