Rates & Affordability

The Water Finance Conference is again shifting to a virtual format for 2021. The seventh annual event, which exclusively covers financing in the U.S. water utility sector, was originally scheduled for Aug. 18-19 in Washington, D.C. With lockdowns and restrictions beginning to ease, conference organizersRead 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

Steven McDonald has joined Raftelis as our Chief Economist to lead our new valuation and economic impact analysis services. He was formerly with CSG Economics at GAI Consultants. Valuation services and economic impact analyses have been top of mind for many Raftelis clients as theyRead More

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed the American Rescue Plan Act, legislation to deliver additional COVID-19 relief that contains $500 million for low-income water utility bill assistance. This new funding for low-income water assistance comes in addition to the initial $638 million provided inRead 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

By Ann Bui, Mike Orth & Bruce Allender The U.S. water industry has worked hard in recent years to remind people that potable water is not free. Procuring, treating, and distributing water is costly, and utilities need to cover their costs to make sure customers have safe drinkingRead 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

The EPA has a chance to listen and implement water industry leaders’ recommendations on affordability using new data, methods, metrics and digital technologies. Here’s a review of submitted comments to the EPA on its proposed affordability guidance updates.  By Greg Baird In the United States,Read More

While water and wastewater utilities are frequently tasked with a meeting multitude of operational standards, they also regularly tackle financial challenges that can have enormous economic ramifications to the public. With this in mind, how often should utilities look to raise rates? Can annual rate maintenanceRead More

The American Water Works Association (AWWA), the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) are applauding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the pre-publication release of its proposed 2020 Financial Capability Assessment (FCA). The new document will aidRead More