In addition, we have also created a dashboard for dozens of utilities throughout Canada.
These free, interactive Rates Dashboards are designed to assist utility managers and local officials to compare and analyze water and wastewater rates against multiple characteristics, including utility finances, system characteristics, customer base socioeconomic conditions, geography, and history.
The Financial Sustainability and Rates Dashboards are tools designed and produced by the Environmental Finance Center as part of projects to annually survey and analyze rates data from different states. Rates data are collected from nearly all local governments (and sometimes investor-owned) utilities in many of these states. Other products from the rates analyses include annual reports and tables of rates across the state, and copies of the hundreds of rate sheets analyzed. All of this information is provided free of charge on our website.
The rates surveys are conducted in partnership with various agencies in different states.
Click the bolded words below to learn about different features of the dashboard.
Click the bolded words below to view the answers to frequently asked dashboard questions.
Rates data: Rates data that appear on dashboards were collected through partnerships with state agencies, public and private organizations, and the EFC. See individual state dashboards for more detailed information sources. 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 most recently available from American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates from the US Census Bureau, currently 2013-2017
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 HUC 6 watershed data
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.
For data questions, please send a 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 Shadi Eskaf.
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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