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Directed Grants for Public Utility Systems

December 14, 2023

  By Alicia James, Project Manager, UNC Environmental Finance Center Public utilities systems provide communities with clean, safe drinking water and wastewater treatment. They improve the environment, health, and quality of life in communities where we live, work, and play. … Read more

Environmental Provisions of The Inflation Reduction Act

October 26, 2022

  Post by Kathryn Obenshain, Project Analyst at the UNC Environmental Finance Center The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) became law on August 16, 2022 intending to limit the effects of inflation and lower the national deficit. The law is broad … Read more

Four Federal Water Infrastructure Funding Programs to Watch

February 28, 2018

The White House’s Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America, which was released early this year, outlines the President’s proposed steps to encourage increased state, local, and private investment in infrastructure. And though you’ve probably heard a lot about it, … Read more

Effective Utility Management

May 7, 2013

Guest author Catherine Noyes is an Associate Consultant at Raftelis Financial Consultants. Through the 1960s, the utility business was all about protecting public health – making sure that technology was in place to ensure safe and reliable water and wastewater … Read more

Right-sizing Reserve Funds

February 12, 2013

Jeff Hughes is the Director of the Environmental Finance Center. “How much should our utility maintain in reserves?”  This is one of the most common questions I get from utility managers during my finance courses. It is also one of … Read more

“One Oar in the Water”

July 3, 2012

Daniel Kolomeets-Darovsky is an Environmental Finance Analyst with the Environmental Finance Center. stephen schiller / Free Photos   Defining a resilient business model for water utilities is no easy task in a time of unprecedented economic conditions, scare capital, and … Read more

Finding the Right Grant for State and Tribal Wetland Programs

June 26, 2012

Glenn Barnes is a senior project director at the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina.  Glenn is the project manager of the Sustainable Finance for Wetland Programs project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If I … Read more