Public Utility Finance

Fitch: Water utilities on solid footing despite possible recession

Fitch: Water utilities on solid footing despite possible recession

September 18, 2023 at 8:39 am 0 comments

Fitch Ratings says U.S. water utilities weathered the COVID-19 pandemic remarkably well and appear to be on solid footing, even as the broader economy inches closer to recession, according to the credit ratings company’s annual peer review for the sector. According to the review, slowerRead More

Commentary: Climate Initiatives Stifle with Stuck-in-the-Past Equipment Purchasing

Commentary: Climate Initiatives Stifle with Stuck-in-the-Past Equipment Purchasing

August 21, 2023 at 10:45 am 0 comments

By Soren Rasmussen Protecting the environment has never been so high on the agenda. So, isn’t it peculiar that in the wastewater industry, almost everything is still archaically structured to purchasing the cheapest possible equipment, which can all too soon end up as waste thatRead More

EPA announces $50 million in grants for stormwater, sewer needs

EPA announces $50 million in grants for stormwater, sewer needs

August 14, 2023 at 9:04 am 0 comments

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the availability of nearly $50 million in regular funding through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program to help communities address stormwater and sewer infrastructure needs. States may now apply for grant assistance to fundRead More

Revisiting WIFIA Sub-UST Interest Rates for SRFs

Revisiting WIFIA Sub-UST Interest Rates for SRFs

July 31, 2023 at 12:15 pm 0 comments

By John Ryan The WIFIA loan program offers an interest rate derived from current U.S. Treasury (UST) yields at loan closing. Other large-scale federal infrastructure loan programs like TIFIA and CIFIA do the same. The underlying idea is that the loan should cover the government’sRead More

California attorney general leads coalition opposing 3M PFAS settlement

California attorney general leads coalition opposing 3M PFAS settlement

July 31, 2023 at 7:59 am 0 comments

California Attorney General Rob Bonta last week, leading a bipartisan coalition of 22 attorneys general, announced the state’s opposition to a proposed class action settlement that he says fails to adequately hold accountable the 3M Company for contaminating Americans’ drinking water supply. Under the proposed settlement, water providers wouldRead More

NACWA warns against proposed ‘radical spending cuts’ to SRFs in FY24

NACWA warns against proposed ‘radical spending cuts’ to SRFs in FY24

July 17, 2023 at 7:39 am 0 comments

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) expressed deep concern last week about the potential for Congress to move forward on massive spending cuts being proposed for the Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs. These programs had been previously designated forRead More

2023 Water Finance Conference to convene CFOs, utility finance experts in Cleveland this week

2023 Water Finance Conference to convene CFOs, utility finance experts in Cleveland this week

July 6, 2023 at 8:38 am 0 comments

9th annual event to feature expert presentations and discussions around water/wastewater utility finance, customer affordability, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, and much more The 2023 Water Finance Conference, an educational seminar exclusively for water utility finance professionals, is returning to Cleveland, Ohio,Read More

3M to pay at least $10.3 billion as major PFAS settlement reached

3M to pay at least $10.3 billion as major PFAS settlement reached

June 26, 2023 at 11:00 am 0 comments

Chemical manufacturing company 3M announced it has agreed to pay at least $10.3 billion in lawsuit settlements over contamination of water systems from PFAS, harmful chemical compounds the water sector has been cracking down on. If approved by the court, it would be the largestRead More

2023 Water Finance Conference to include Cleveland Water, NEORSD site visits

2023 Water Finance Conference to include Cleveland Water, NEORSD site visits

June 19, 2023 at 8:00 am 0 comments

As part of the 2023 Water Finance Conference, Aug. 8-9 in Cleveland, Ohio, attendees will have the opportunity to tour Cleveland Water’s Garrett A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant and visit the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s (NEORSD) nearby Superior Avenue Pump Station. Cleveland Water’s GarrettRead More

EPA issues order to Baltimore for SDWA compliance

EPA issues order to Baltimore for SDWA compliance

May 18, 2023 at 9:00 am 0 comments

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a unilateral administrative order (UAO) to the City of Baltimore to comply with Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) safeguards designed to protect public health from “illnesses linked to Cryptosporidium, Giardia and other bacteria from animal waste whichRead More