Public Utility Finance

DC Water gets S&P Green Evaluation

DC Water gets S&P Green Evaluation

Public Utility Finance, Water Finance July 31, 2017 at 6:25 am

The District of Columbia Water & Sewer Authority (DC Water) has become the first U.S. municipal issuer to receive S&P Global’s Green Evaluation, scoring  E1 (the highest score on S&P Global’s scale of E1-E4) and 92/100. The Green Evaluation was assigned to $100 million inRead More

EPA selects 12 entities for first WIFIA applications

EPA selects 12 entities for first WIFIA applications

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has invited 12 projects in nine states to apply for Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans. These potential applicants were selected from a group of projects that represent large and small communities from across the United States thatRead More

2017 Water Finance Conference agenda to highlight integrated financing, future of U.S. infrastructure

2017 Water Finance Conference agenda to highlight integrated financing, future of U.S. infrastructure

The agenda for the third annual Water Finance Conference, being held Aug. 28-29, 2017 at the Harley-Davidson Museum® in Milwaukee, Wis., will feature a variety of technical presentations covering current funding challenges facing water and wastewater utilities, punctuated by the growing need for new, integratedRead More

Mayors Take the Lead on Water Infrastructure

Mayors Take the Lead on Water Infrastructure

Roundtable 2017 Editor’s Note — This issue marks the return of our popular Mayors Roundtable feature. Mayors are essential to a city’s water infrastructure agenda, involved in budgetary decisions and strategic planning, often in the face of financial challenges, economic uncertainty and regulatory constraints. TheyRead More

Lawmakers pan proposed EPA budget cuts

Lawmakers pan proposed EPA budget cuts

Public Utility Finance, Water Finance June 21, 2017 at 6:55 am

The Trump Administration’s FY18 budget plan for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) faced criticism from both sides of the aisle last week during an appropriations subcommittee hearing on the proposal. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said that while the administration favors “clean water and fixing our outdatedRead More

Interest Rates: A Barometer of Pressure or a Thermometer of Heat?

Interest Rates: A Barometer of Pressure or a Thermometer of Heat?

Financial Report, Public Utility Finance June 20, 2017 at 9:34 am

By David Clamage Historians have suggested that the concept of charging interest today for the use of money, goods or services to be repaid in the future goes back thousands of years, when a farmer could borrow a seed to grow wheat and repay thatRead More

AWWA urges increased WIFIA funding as demand grows

AWWA urges increased WIFIA funding as demand grows

Public Utility Finance, Water Finance May 4, 2017 at 9:44 am

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) celebrated news that 43 entities have expressed interest in loans through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) and urged increased funding to confront the U.S. water infrastructure challenge. AWWA, the chief architect of the WIFIA program, continuesRead More

Fitch: WIFIA could provide long overdue boost to water projects

Fitch: WIFIA could provide long overdue boost to water projects

Public Utility Finance, Water Finance May 4, 2017 at 8:45 am

According to a new report from Fitch Ratings, water and sewer utilities throughout the country are faced with aging infrastructure and a rather large price tag to rectify it, which could pave the way for substantially more investment in the space. The California drought, theRead More

New York goes in big on clean water bill

New York goes in big on clean water bill

Public Utility Finance, Water Finance April 18, 2017 at 3:00 pm

New York’s 2017-18 state budget has included a new clean water infrastructure bill that will allocate $2.5 billion for projects across the state. The money will be used to repair and replace old pipes and water mains to ensure clean drinking water, as well asRead More

Balance the Fund with ‘Customer Conversations’

Balance the Fund with ‘Customer Conversations’

Albuquerque Uses Customer Outreach to Gain Deeper Insights into Infrastructure Needs, Conservation and Rate Increases By Frank Roth & Carol Malesky As many utilities look to implement water conservation programs in order to address drought and water shortfalls, the challenge of maintaining a utility’s fundRead More