Jeff Hughes is the Director of the Environmental Finance Center.
I’ve come to the opinion that rate structures, particularly those that are designed to promote conservation and water efficiency, may be getting a bad rap or at least getting more than their fair share of the blame for utility budget woes. The stories and complaints tend to go like this – “We changed our rate structure a few years ago and ever since have seen budget shortfalls that have required unplanned for rate increases. Our board is unhappy, our customers are unhappy, the papers are making fun of us and we still don’t have the revenues we need. Damn rates!!”
