Public Utility Finance

On March 31, the White House released The American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion infrastructure plan aimed at creating jobs and rebuilding U.S. infrastructure. The Biden Administration is proposing a total of $111 billion dollars in clean water and drinking water investments. While the proposal doesRead More

By John Ryan The 2020 Annual Report of the EPA’s WIFIA loan program is a good read, and not just because it’s short and largely graphical. It’s a series of positive snapshots, including impressive aggregate stats, highlights from closed loans and summaries of new features.Read More

President Joe Biden on Friday signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act, legislation to deliver additional COVID-19 relief that contains $500 million in assistance for low-income clean water customers and support for critical water and sewer investments. This water assistance funding comes in addition toRead More

Last week the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee marked up its contribution to the next COVID-19 relief bill last week. Included was an additional $500 million for the Low-Income Water Customer Assistance Program administered by Health and Human Services, bringing the potential totalRead More

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) today kicked off a new joint campaign that the two organizations are calling: Affordable Water, Resilient Communities. Local utilities and their customers face financial challenges after years of increasing local costs andRead More

Congress recently released the Fiscal Year 2021 Consolidated Appropriations bill. The legislation contains a provision to create the first ever Low-Income Household Drinking Water and Wastewater Emergency Assistance Program with $638 million in appropriations – an historic win for water accessibility and the first appropriation ofRead More

Friday evening, Congress released its long-awaited conferenced Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA). Over the past several cycles, this bill has become the vehicle of choice for authorizing essential funding for clean and drinking water infrastructure. While both the House and Senate Committee versions ofRead More

By Ian Lancaster & Katie Cason The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic volatility cast a blanket of uncertainty over many industries, causing key stakeholders — from investors to business leaders — to assess the shifting landscape and long-term implications for various sectors. For the water/wastewater infrastructure sector,Read More

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) has released a new report by CDM Smith in collaboration with NACWA, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the North East Biosolids and Residuals Association (NEBRA) that quantifies the cost impacts of PFAS policies and regulations at 29 publiclyRead More

By John Ryan The WIFIA Loan Program recently announced that it has reset the interest rates on two undrawn loan commitments originally made in mid-2018. The fixed rate on a $135 million loan to Orange County Water District and a $614 million loan to SanRead More