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What is the Connecticut Water & Wastewater Rates Dashboard?
This interactive Rates Dashboard is designed to assist utility managers and local officials analyze residential water and sewer rates of Connecticut's utilities against multiple characteristics, including system characteristics, customer base socioeconomic conditions, and geography. In 2019 the EFC and Tighe & Bond collected and analyzed water and sewer rate structures for 155 public service providers in CT.
The Environmental Finance Center and Tighe & Bond have been working together for 5 years on New England rates surveys and dashboards. Tighe & Bond is an engineering and environmental services consulting firm that has specialized in rate surveys for over 20 years. For more information on Tighe & Bond's work and resources in New England, please check out their website here.
Comparison Groups
April 2019 residential water, sewer, or water and sewer combined rates for 155 utilities across Connecticut can be compared with:
- All other utilities in the State
- Utilities of the same size,
- Utilities in the same watershed,
- Utilities with the same water source,
- Utilities with the same rate structure,
- Utilities with the same ownership type,
- Utilites in the same Congressional District
- Utilities serving communities with similar median household incomes,
- Utilities within 25 miles,
- Utilities within 50 miles
Key Financial Indicators
The following measures for the selected utility are compared to key indicators or to the utilities within the selected comparison group:
- Monthly water, sewer, or water and sewer combined bill for the selected consumption amount,
- Monthly bill for as % Median Household Income for the community, and
- Conservation pricing signal
You can compare the monthly bill charged for any consumption level from 0 gallons/month to 15,000 gallons/month, at 1,000 gallon intervals. You can also raise rates by up to 100% and observe the (hypothetical) effects on the utility's rates, revenues and rate affordability.
Safe Drinking Water Fee
In 2017, Connecticut Department of Health passed a law that established a Safe Drinking Water fee for all public water systems. It is sometimes referred to as the Safe Drinking Water Primacy Assessment (SDWPA). The fees collected are to be used to for the Department of Health's Safe Drinking Water Program. The fee amount varies and is dependent on the size of the public water system.
The fee amount varies and is dependent on the size of the public water system. For our 2019 rates survey, we are using the $2.57 annual fee per connection for most utilities. However, one should check the approximate service area population to confirm the fee value.
- All non-transient non-community public water systems: $125 annual fee
- Comunity water systems with less than 50 service connections: $125 annual fee
- Community water systems with 50 to 99 service connections: $150 annual fee
- Community water systems with 100 or more service connections (almost all utilities in the survey): $2.57 per service connection per year
Click the bolded words below to learn about different features of the dashboard.
-
CalculatorFinancial Health Checkup for Water UtilitiesFri, 02/19/2016Shadi Eskaf, Glenn Barnes -
DashboardMassachusetts Water and Wastewater Rates DashboardThu, 01/25/2018Annalee Harkins -
DashboardNew Hampshire 2021 Water and Wastewater Rates DashboardTue, 01/19/2021Annalee Harkins
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Utility Rate Sheets for ConnecticutFri, 06/07/2019Annalee Harkins -
CalculatorWater and Wastewater Rates Analysis ModelThu, 05/31/2018Shadi Eskaf, Daniel Irvin
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CalculatorWater and Wastewater Residential Rates Affordability Assessment ToolFri, 07/12/2019Shadi Eskaf
Rates data: Rates data for this dashboard were collected by the EFC in partnership with Tighe & Bond. Each utility's rates are standardized to monthly billing and thousands of gallons for the purposes of fair comparison on the Dashboard.
Demographic data: The American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2013-2017) from the US Census Bureau
System characteristics, such as number of connections and water source type: Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Information System
Geographic: United States Geological Survey
If your utility is not included on your state’s dashboard, it may be that a rate sheet was not received during the survey collection period, or clarifying questions went unanswered.
By utilizing the “Edit Data or Add Utility” button on the upper right corner of the Dashboard, you can temporarily compare your water and wastewater rates against other utilities. Please note that data are only available locally and will not be saved within the Dashboard.
If you were not contacted for rates by the EFC, please reach out to Annalee Harkins with your utility’s name and contact information for future surveys.
Please contact Annalee Harkins. We will do our best to update your rates as soon as possible!
Data can be edited temporarily by utilizing the “Edit Data or Add Utility” button located in the upper right corner of the Dashboard. Please note that data are only available locally and will not be saved within the Dashboard.
Dials such as “Cost Recovery” and “Affordability” rely on supplemental data in making calculations. When supplemental data is not available for a utility, the message is displayed and the dial is blanked out.
Each dial has a “?” button which shows how the dial is calculated, the data used in the calculation, and a brief explanation of the dial’s purpose.
Please send a data request to Annalee Harkins.
Rates Dashboards are primarily funded through contracts with state and Federal governments. If you are interested in a Rates Dashboard for your state, please contact Annalee Harkins.
Dashboards with annual contracts such as NC and GA are updated approximately the same time each year. Other states are updated on a per-contract basis.
Utilities may send corrections if their rates are incorrectly displayed on the dashboard. These corrections are implemented on a quarterly basis.
In 2017, Connecticut Department of Health passed a law that established a Safe Drinking Water fee for all public water systems. It is sometimes referred to as the Safe Drinking Water Primacy Assessment (SDWPA).The fees collected are to be used to for the Department of Health's Safe Drinking Water Program.
The fee amount varies and is dependent on the size of the public water system. For our 2019 rates survey, we are using the $2.57 annual fee per connection for most utilities. However, one should check the approximate service area population to confirm the fee value
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