Rates & Affordability

By Greg Quist Stormwater and sanitary sewer systems may be some of the least technologically sophisticated systems in the utility’s arsenal. Most often, these systems are gravity-based and out of sight. As a result, operational assessments are limited to the occasional visual inspection when anRead More

By Erica Brown The managers of two large utilities recently remarked to me that in recent discussions with bond rating agencies, the questions that arose about climate change dove much deeper than in recent memory. In both cases, rating agencies wanted to know specifically aboutRead More

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

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

The US Water Alliance has released a new report in partnership with DigDeep and Michigan State University focusing on water access, titled Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States: A National Action Plan. Over the last three years, the US Water Alliance hasRead More

During meetings on Capitol Hill and at EPA in late August, the lead authors of the joint NACWA, American Water Works Association (AWWA) and Water Environment Federation (WEF) report, Developing a New Framework for Household Affordability and Financial Capability Assessment in the Water Sector, provided backgroundRead More

By Andrew Heath It’s no secret that the United States is facing a water infrastructure crisis of epic proportions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that $473 billion in drinking water infrastructure investment will be needed over the next 20 years as aging pipes andRead More

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

According to a new report by Arcadis and Bluefield Research, intelligent water can address two of the biggest challenges facing the U.S. water utility sector today: affordability and resilience. “The research indicates that only 21 percent of utilities feel they are fully able to cover costs ofRead More

Charlotte-based water and wastewater consultancy Raftelis, announced it has acquired Public Resources Management Group, Inc. (PRMG), a similar firm, with a particularly strong presence in Florida and throughout the Southeast. PRMG adds to Raftelis’ portfolio additional expertise in the electric, natural gas, and solid wasteRead More