Public Utility Finance

LAST CALL! Call for speakers for 2020 Water Finance Conference

LAST CALL! Call for speakers for 2020 Water Finance Conference

Organizers of the 2020 Water Finance Conference are looking for speakers for its sixth annual event to be held August 19-20 in Washington, D.C. The Water Finance Conference is aimed at gathering executive-level utility professionals, including directors, superintendents, CEOs, CFOs and finance managers with consultants,Read More

DC Water hires new general counsel

DC Water hires new general counsel

Public Utility Finance, Washington Report December 30, 2019 at 2:00 pm

DC Water announced in November that Marc Battle will serve as its general council and executive vice president for legal affairs. The announcement followed a rigorous national search overseen by the DC Water Board of Directors. “We are thrilled to have Marc and his expertiseRead More

Setting Stormwater Rates Using Machine Learning

Setting Stormwater Rates Using Machine Learning

City of Mineral Wells, Texas, Uses Image Classification in Stormwater Rate Study By Tak Makino The City of Mineral Wells, Texas, is a community of approximately 15,000 people west of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The city has experienced numerous floods in recent years, including significant damageRead More

EPA invites 38 projects to apply for WIFIA loans

EPA invites 38 projects to apply for WIFIA loans

Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it is inviting a total of 38 projects in 18 states to apply for Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans. Together, the selected borrowers will apply for WIFIA loans totaling approximately $6 billion toRead More

Indiana gets $436 million WIFIA loan in largest single disbursement to date

Indiana gets $436 million WIFIA loan in largest single disbursement to date

Public Utility Finance, Water Finance October 14, 2019 at 8:20 am

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a $436 million Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loan – the largest initial disbursement under WIFIA to date – to the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA). EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the loan closing along withRead More

Forecast: 10-year CAPEX for U.S. water utilities could reach $629 billion

Forecast: 10-year CAPEX for U.S. water utilities could reach $629 billion

Financial Report, Public Utility Finance, Water Finance September 30, 2019 at 10:02 am

According to a new forecast from Bluefield Research, municipal utilities in the United States are expected to spend $629 billion on capital expenditures (CAPEX) over the next decade to address increasing demands on water and wastewater infrastructure. While the baseline forecast projects a 2.6 percentRead More

Hand holding piece of jigsaw puzzle with word FINANCIAL PLANNING. Selective focus

Why My Capital Planning Role Is So Challenging…

Guest Columns, Public Utility Finance, Water Finance September 16, 2019 at 9:41 am

By Kristy Neckowicz Although roles in planning differ, we’ve seen, time and again, the same handful of challenges related to the effective planning and execution of capital programs. If I walk a mile in a director of engineering’s shoes, here’s how my world would look… IRead More

Conceptual hand writing showing Budget Planning. Business photo text Financial Plannification Evaluation of earnings and expenses written Notebook Book the jute background Pens next to it.

5 Best Practices for Utility Capital Planning & Execution

Public Utility Finance, Water Finance August 19, 2019 at 9:20 am

By Kristy Neckowicz Optimizing a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) can be a daunting task for any organization given the inherent complexities and many “moving parts” that constitute the plan. When a CIP comprises a hundred or more projects, juggling the budgets, timelines and resources – allRead More

5th Annual Water Finance Conference Welcomes Sonny Popowsky as Keynote Speaker

5th Annual Water Finance Conference Welcomes Sonny Popowsky as Keynote Speaker

Philadelphia’s water rate board chair and former Pennsylvania consumer advocate to discuss rate setting, affordability challenges Irwin A. “Sonny” Popowsky, chair of the City of Philadelphia’s Water, Sewer & Storm Water Rate Board, will kick off the fifth annual Water Finance Conference as the keynoteRead More

Examining New Payment Methods to Address Agricultural Nutrient Runoff

Examining New Payment Methods to Address Agricultural Nutrient Runoff

By Michael Curley Water quality is a major problem throughout the United States. But it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was so polluted that it actually caught fire! That made headlines all across theRead More