Dashboards and Tools
Utility Financial Sustainability Tools and Rates Dashboards
Financial Sustainability Tools and Rates Dashboards are interactive tools designed to assist water, wastewater, and stormwater utility managers and local officials benchmark rates/fees and financial performance of the utility based on comparisons to utilities of similar characteristics.
These dashboards are designed and produced by the Environmental Finance Center at UNC. Rates and financial performance data are collected from hundreds of utilities in many states, combined with system characteristics, customer base socioeconomic conditions, geographical information, and other data. All of the data are loaded into the dashboards which visualize each utility’s information in simple graphics to convey a comprehensive benchmarking assessment of the utility’s rates and financial performance. Metrics are sometimes benchmarked against specific targets or by comparison to other utilities of similar characteristics.
The EFC conducts surveys and achieves higher than 85% participation from all utilities in the states, or partners with other organizations that conduct surveys. Data displayed on the dashboard are available for download from links provided on the dashboard webpages.
Water and wastewater rates and finance dashboards are available for the states below. Stormwater fees dashboards are listed where available.
Other Utility Financial Sustainability Tools
Bill Payment Assistance Program Cost Estimation For Water Utilities
The tool is a guide for utility staff wanting to estimate the cost of implementing a program to assist low-income residential customers in paying their bills. It provides a picture of the income distribution of households in the utility service areas and allows the utility to choose from different eligibility and program designs
COVID-19 Financial Resilience Dashboard
This tool lets utilities enter their financial information and anticipated revenue losses to see how long they can supplement revenue losses with unrestricted cash.
COVID-19 Water Utility Revenue Impact Estimator
This tool allows users to enter data that affect water and wastewater revenues and expenses, including rates of delinquencies and water use changes, to estimate net loss (or change) of revenue under COVID-19 pandemic working conditions over a two year period.
Electricity Baseline Builder For Water Utilities
This tool allows you to see how much electricity your water system is currently using and track how much you save, or have already saved, with new energy efficiency projects.
Financial Health Checkup For Water Utilities
This tool examines the financial health of a utility. A user provides financial values from audits and the tool calculates key financial indicators to show utility financial status over 5 years.
Financing Wetland And Water Quality Improvements Tool
This revenue tool uses up to 10 separate governments, non-profits, or other entities looking to partner together on water quality projects to estimate how much money they can raise from various sources.
The loan analysis tool helps utilities analyze the financial outcome of using a loan for a project. As inputs, the model needs a loan amount, period, interest rate, and the number of users (or connections). The output of the model is the annual cost for each user, for either declining or equal payments.
Michigan Affordability Criteria Tool For State Revolving Fund Program (FLOW)
This tool uses socioeconomic indicators from the US Census’ American Community Survey (ACS), population projections from the Michigan Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, and relies on the user to input the system’s rates to imagine what using various affordability criteria could look like for Michigan’s SRF programs.
Plan To Pay: Scenarios To Fund Your Capital Improvement Plan
The plan to pay tool prompts utilities to plan out capital improvements and track payback periods over 20 years. Model inputs can include grants and loans, but utilities should be aware that they will own any asset and will need to maintain and replace it in the future.
The revolving fund model helps systems plan upgrades or capital improvement projects. The tool helps utilities when providing loans to individual system users, giving your users an advantageous low rate (SRF Loan). The tool also allows for the mixing of different funding sources.
The Viable Utility Program is a program of the Division of Water Infrastructure that helps promote utility viability in North Carolina, including some funding. The Viable Utility Reserve tool shows which utilities were marked distressed and not distressed and summarizes financial metrics for 2017-2021.
Water And Wastewater Rates Analysis Model
A do it yourself, simplified financial model to help utilities set rates.
Water And Wastewater Residential Rates Affordability Assessment Tool (Tableau)
The affordability assessment tool displays data by census block to show the impact of rates on all customers, on homeowners only, and on the lowest income customers.
Water And Wastewater Residential Rates Affordability Assessment Tool
The affordability assessment tool can also be accessed through Microsoft Excel. This tool displays data by census block to show the impact of rates on all customers, on homeowners only, and on the lowest income customers.
Water Utility Revenue Risk Assessment Tool
The water utility revenue risk assessment tools helps utilities and technical assistance providers to quickly determine the proportion of residential revenues from water sales that may be at risk of loss when residential customers change demand patterns.
What is the Value of an SRF Loan? Subsidized Loan Calculator
The subsidized loan calculator demonstrates what cost savings an SRF loan at 1/2 market rate gives over full market rate.