Innovative Funding

Innovative Funding Solutions

The EFC’s work promotes smart management and resilient business models for drinking water and wastewater utilities. Through applied financial research on customer-level billing data, utility debt capacity, infrastructure needs assessments, and capital funding program details, the EFC develops modeled and tested strategies that can lead to financial health in the water industry. This work includes partnerships with utilities, local and state government agencies, and other organizations working on water sector capacity building.

Through one-on-one assistance, applied research, and tool development, the EFC works with utilities and states on innovative funding solutions that are right for them. The EFC works with utilities to investigate funding sources and pricing models that will improve the resiliency of their revenue sources. Additionally, the EFC helps utilities evaluate alternative rate structures compared to their existing structures to see how their customers and revenues are impacted.

The EFC also partners with states to examine their funding programs to ensure that they are being prioritized as intended. Examining and modifying eligibility criteria allows states to allocate funds where they are most needed. The EFC has worked with the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority to redevelop their principal forgiveness eligibility criteria for their SRF programs. Using data from the state’s water rates dashboard and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the EFC created a toolkit to assist program mangers/directors to better understand different financial challenges facing communities and to better target principal forgiveness funds.