North Carolina Water and Wastewater Rates Dashboard
Monday, February 5, 2018
** Please CLICK HERE to open the dashboard in a new tab **
The dashboard is currently displaying January 2018 rates.
***Please CLICK HERE to open the new 2018 the dashboard in a new tab***
What is the North Carolina Water & Wastewater Rates Dashboard?
This interactive rates and financial benchmarking dashboard is designed to assist utility managers and local officials with analyzing residential water and wastewater rates against multiple characteristics, including utility finances, system characteristics, customer base socioeconomic conditions, and geography. Financial indicators are added in a separate tab. This resource for utilities in North Carolina is provided by and funded by the Division of Water Infrastructure of the NC Department of Environmental Quality.
This Rates Dashboard is included in Smart Management for Small Water Systems nationwide project of the Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN). The EFCN is composed of numerous Environmental Finance Centers around the country, including the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Smart Management for Small Water Systems is the result of a cooperative agreement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Comparison Groups
FY2018 (January 2018) residential rates for utilities across North Carolina can be compared with:
- All other utilities in the State,
- Utilities of the same size,
- Utilities with similar operating revenues,
- Utilities with the same water source type,
- Utilities in the same watershed,
- Utilities within 25, 50, or 100 miles,
- Utilities in counties of the same economic tier, and
- Utilities that serve communities with similar income levels
You can compare rates for 0 to 15,000 gallons/month at 500 gallon intervals.
You can also raise rates by up to 150% and observe the (hypothetical) effects on the utility's rates, revenues and rate affordability.
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/wastewater bills,
- Monthly bill as % Median Household Income for the service community,
- Conservation pricing signal, and
- Operating ratio.
In the Financial Benchmarks tab, eight financial performance indicators are displayed for your utility, calculated from data reported on your utility's audited financial statements and provided to the Local Government Commission. The indicators include:
- Operating ratio with depreciation
- Operating ratio without depreciation
- Debt service coverage ratio
- Quick ratio
- Days cash on hand
- Debt-to-Equity ratio
- Asset depreciation
- Transfers in/out of the Enterprise Fund
Provide Feedback
Please take this 1 minute survey to help us understand how the dashboard is being used in North Carolina, whether it is useful, and what can be improved to better assist you.
View a recording of a webinar demonstrating how to use the NC Water and Wastewater Rates Dashboard (March 2017)
Demonstration of the NC Water and Wastewater Rates Dashboard starts at 49:40 (after the 49th minute of the recording below)
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ReportAnnual Report Of Water And Wastewater Rates And Rate Structures In North Carolina - January 2018Mon, 05/21/2018Annalee Harkins, Shadi Eskaf, Neil Sullivan, Andrea Kopaskie -
Guidance DocumentNorth Carolina Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Funding SourcesSun, 05/01/2016Stacey Isaac Berahzer -
InfographicRate Case Visualization Tool for Water UtilitiesWed, 06/29/2016Lexi Kay Herndon, Jordan Paschal, Shadi Eskaf, Mary Tiger
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TablesTables of Water and Wastewater Rates and Rate Structures in North Carolina as of January 2018Fri, 05/11/2018 -
CalculatorWater and Wastewater Rates Analysis ModelThu, 05/31/2018Shadi Eskaf, Daniel Irvin
Rates data: In North Carolina, the EFC collected rate structures directly from water and wastewater utilities. 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 (2012-2016) 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
We strive to include as many utilities in our surveys as possible, maintaining a minimum response rate of at least 80% of rate-charging utilities in each state. 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.
However, by utilizing the “Edit Data or Add Utility” button in the upper right corner of the Dashboard, you can temporarily compare your water rates against the existing utilities on the Dashboard. Please note that data are only available locally and will not be saved within the Dashboard.
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.
You may download a PDF of the 2018 North Carolina Water & Wastewater Rates Report here.
For other questions, 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 Glenn Barnes.
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.
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