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 … Continued

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 … Continued

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 … Continued

This article reviews how utilities can analyze their billing data to understand about the different types of customers that they serve, and tailor communications to the different groups of customers more appropriately.

This article reviews the use of different types of debt to pay for water and wastewater infrastructure in North Carolina.

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 … Continued

This is a guide written specifically for Georgia water and wastewater utility managers, explaining the legal framework upon which water/wastewater utility services are established, operated and provided in the State of Georgia. It covers legal issues around establishing a utility … Continued

This paper identifies opportunities to enhance management capacity for small community water systems through cooperative (shared) management. This paper provides a background on various aspects of small water systems, performance, and regionalization in North Carolina, before exploring the shared management … Continued

This article explores customer misunderstanding of utility financing and the problems that can cause for utility managers.

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, … Continued