Dayne Batten is a Research Assistant for the EFC and second year MPA student at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Government. Traditional engineering plans suggest that, when customer demand approaches the maximum daily capacity of a utility’s treatment plant, the utility … Read more

Glenn Barnes is a senior project director at the Environmental Finance Center at The University of North Carolina and is director of the Sustainable Finance for Wetland Programs project. EPA is encouraging all states and tribes to create wetland program … Read more

Jeff Hughes is the Director of the Environmental Finance Center. Ask any utility manager to list the top business drivers and the “R-word”, Regulation, is likely to be near the top.  Given the financial implications of many regulations, it’s not … Read more

Guest author Peiffer Brandt is the Chief Operating Officer at Raftelis Financial Consultants. “Patrick Cannon… voted twice against raising our water fee.  That means a lot for senior citizens, families, and individuals on fixed income.  He deserves our selective vote.”  … Read more

Shadi Eskaf is a Senior Project Director for the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina. Previous blog posts (here and here) discussed the fact that per capita water consumption is declining. The financial ramifications can be significant, … Read more

Mary Tiger is the Chief Operating Officer of the Environmental Finance Center. We have written about a number of alternative rate designs for water utilities on this blog in the past year (see posts on PeakSet Base Model and CustomerSelect … Read more

Sarah Royster is a graduate student with the UNC School of Public Health pursuing a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering.  She works as a Research Assistant with the Environmental Finance Center. Restrictions on reserve funds vary greatly from utility to … Read more

Jen Weiss is a Finance Analyst at the Environmental Finance Center.  Quick … what do you think of when you hear the word “revolving?”  A revolving door?  A revolving restaurant?  Perhaps a revolving credit card? In the environmental finance world, … Read more

Jeff Hughes is the Director of the Environmental Finance Center. “How much should our utility maintain in reserves?”  This is one of the most common questions I get from utility managers during my finance courses. It is also one of … Read more

Caroline Simpson is a graduate student with the UNC School of Information and Library Science and works as a Research Assistant with the Environmental Finance Center. Utility managers may find new perspectives on water system managerial capacity in an unfamiliar … Read more