Mary Tiger is the Chief Operating Officer of the Environmental Finance Center. We have written about a number of alternative rate designs for water utilities on this blog in the past year (see posts on PeakSet Base Model and CustomerSelect … Read more

Caroline Simpson is a graduate student with the UNC School of Information and Library Science and works as a Research Assistant with the Environmental Finance Center. Utility managers may find new perspectives on water system managerial capacity in an unfamiliar … Read more

Guest author Peiffer Brandt is the Chief Operating Officer at Raftelis Financial Consultants. “New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board customers will see their monthly water and sewer rates more than double by 2020 after the City Council voted 5-2 Thursday … Read more

Matt Harris is the Marketing and Outreach Coordinator for the Environmental Finance Center. The etymology of the word “dashboard” is an interesting story of technological change and innovation over time.  Originally the name given to the plank(s) of wood or … Read more

Guest Author Rocky Craley is a Senior Consultant at Raftelis Financial Consultants. Breaking News:  Utility rates have continued to increase over the last two years, according to the 2012 Water and Wastewater Rate Survey.  That’s the highest-level survey summary, which … Read more

Jeff Hughes is the Director of the Environmental Finance Center. Remember the good ‘ole days when a billion dollar price tag for addressing a local environmental problem was relatively rare?  Those days appear to be gone and much to the … Read more

Guest author Peiffer Brandt is the Chief Operating Officer at Raftelis Financial Consultants. An 82% rate increase.  That’s what the Milford (MA) Water Company has proposed to cover the costs of a new $25 million treatment facility. Rates in Milford … Read more

Stacey Isaac Berahzer is a Senior Project Director for the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, and works from a satellite office in Georgia. In teaching environmental finance we develop many charts and graphics to help illustrate … Read more

Guest author Catherine Noyes is an Associate Consultant at Raftelis Financial Consultants.

Since October, 2010, the Houston-Galveston area has suffered from one of the worst droughts on record. According to the Area Council’s Clean Rivers Program, by the end of 2011, the City of Houston had repaired 17,756 water line breaks, up from 10,821 in 2010. Given that July, 2012 was the hottest month in 117 years of records, it’s not surprising that water service utilities around the country are struggling to keep up with the drought damage impacting buried infrastructure. This damage includes anything from soil shifting as it dries out, to tree roots working their way into pipes in search of moisture.

Depending on where these breaks occur, homeowners may be responsible for shouldering the financial burden of repair or replacement – often at a cost of thousands of dollars. Many homeowners may not know that they are responsible for both the water line that runs from their home to the city’s water meter, and for the sewer line that runs from their home to the city’s sewer main. Through line protection programs, homeowners have a chance to mitigate the significant financial cost that can accompany standard emergency line replacement or repair, which homeowner’s insurance may not cover.

Guest author Peiffer Brandt is Chief Operating Officer at Raftelis Financial Consultants. “With our concerted conservation efforts, our focus on local water supply development, and the recession . . . we’re selling a lot less water than we originally anticipated,” said … Read more