The State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs have become a well-known financing option for many water and wastewater infrastructure projects across the country. This is mainly due to the longevity of the clean water (CWSRF) and drinking water (DWSRF) programs and … Read more

At the Environmental Finance Center, we think a lot about the affordability of environmental services such as drinking water and wastewater.  Historically, many systems have measured affordability by looking at the cost of service compared to a community’s median household … Read more

Water systems across the country have approached drinking water affordability using different metrics and innovative solutions. While other parts of the country take on affordability at a local level, California is tackling this issue at the statewide level. In 2012, … Read more

Water and sanitation access challenges are often thought of in the extremes—lack of a clean water source in a village or community or lack of indoor plumbing in homes. But the reality is that many individuals living in or around … Read more

Why Water or Wastewater Utilities in Many States May Be Apprehensive to Fund Affordability Programs with Rate Revenue One of the reports recently completed at the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel provides an analysis … Read more

Most national analyses of affordability utilize a small sample of utilities or make generalized assumptions about expenditures. With more than 3,000 utilities in our pricing database, the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is … Read more

“Won’t you pay my bill?” is a question that the water utility asks of the customers who do not pay their water, wastewater, and even stormwater bills. But low-income customers are, essentially, asking the same question: will you—higher income customers—help … Read more

We’re all in agreement that how you pay for it matters, but is it possible that when you pay for it matters too? Some utilities are experimenting with prepayment plans, in which customers pay in advance for a set amount … Read more

The affordability of water and wastewater rates is an issue attracting more attention than ever. In particular, “A Burgeoning Crisis? A Nationwide Assessment of the Geography of Water Affordability in United States”—a recent paper from Michigan State University— has generated … Read more

The New York Public Service Commission entered an Order Adopting Low Income Modifications in May 2016, which applied to commission-regulated gas and electric utilities in New York. The Commission established within the Order a robust regulatory policy framework for addressing … Read more