Post Tagged with: "water finance"

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

In a letter to President-elect Joe Biden last week, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) urged the incoming administration to prioritize COVID-19 relief for water utilities and investment for the overall water infrastructure sector. The letter, authored by association president Melissa Elliott, cites AWWA research thatRead More

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received 67 letters of interest in response to the agency’s 2020 Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Notice of Funding Availability. A total of $9.2 billion was requested this year — the largest amount ever requested throughRead More

The U.S. EPA’s water infrastructure financing programs would be in line for approximately level funding next year under a plan for FY21 appropriations released by Senate Republicans last week. The funding proposal is detailed in the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies’ (AMWA) Nov. 16 Monday Morning Briefing. The Republicans’ proposal wouldRead More

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a pared-down version of the HEROES Act, the chamber’s previous COVID-19 relief package. The legislation contains $1.5 billion in aid to water and sewer utilities to help low-income ratepayers during the pandemic. The new version of the HEROES billRead 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

Economic gains are possible when investors with different strengths and preferences are combined in a single financing. It’s happening at the WIFIA loan program. By John Ryan The WIFIA loan program makes long-term loans for qualified projects at the U.S. Treasury’s interest rate. Since debtRead More

The 2020 Water Finance Conference, being presented in a virtual format in September, will touch on a range of topics in the water utility finance space including rate setting, customer affordability short- and long-term financial planning, revenue recovery through technology, financing unfunded regulatory mandates and privatizationRead More

A new economic study finds that cost of water and wastewater failures will be significantly higher in 20 years for American households. According to the new report released last week by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Value of Water Campaign, the UnitedRead More