Tag: Water Research Foundation (Page 1 of 5)

Can your Water Utility Afford a Bill Payment Assistance Program?

February 10, 2021 / Stacey Berahzer / 2 Comments

Guest Post by Stacey Berahzer of IB Environmental

Screenshot from Tool: Bill Payment Assistance Program Cost Estimation For Water Utilities

Water is such a universally essential service, that many utilities seek ways to help their low-income customers with affording the service. Generally referred to as a “customer assistance program” or CAP, this help can take different forms. Some utilities assist by repairing leaks and retrofitting low-income customers’ homes with water efficient devices. But, the more common approach is to provide some sort of financial assistance. For example, a special payment plan to help customers who have arrearages may be coupled with some debt forgiveness. Many utilities also offer discounts on the bills of customers who can prove their low-income status. But, is the cost of implementing such a program prohibitive? The good news is that there has never been a better time to find out.

Even Total Water Demand is on the Decline at Many Utilities

April 15, 2014 / Shadi Eskaf / 5 Comments

Almost two years ago, we wrote a blog post revealing that average residential water use is declining in the State of North Carolina. Similar trends have also been identified in other states and across the country, driven by several factors. It turns out; it’s not just average residential water use that is declining. Despite growing service populations, many utilities have noticed that total demand is falling.

Debt Service as Percent of Total Operating Revenues in FY2012 (n=645 water/wastewater utilities nationwide)

$napshot: Debt Service as Percent of Total Operating Revenues

February 17, 2014 / Shadi Eskaf / 0 Comments

Last Thursday, while we were presenting one of two Water Research Foundation webinars (view recordings of the webcasts for free) on the financial strategies that water utilities have or can employ to improve revenue resiliency against changing financial trends, a participant on the webinar asked if we have any benchmarks on debt service as a percent of operating revenues. The graph above shows how debt service in FY2012 compared to the total operating revenues of 645 debt-paying water/wastewater utilities across the U.S. from Moody’s rating agency. 58% of the debt-paying utilities spent between 10% and 30% of their total operating revenues on debt service in FY2012. Only 11% of the utilities spent more than 40% of their revenues on debt service in that year. There does not seem to be a major distinction between small and large utilities in terms of the proportion of revenue spent on debt service. In our recently published WRF report, Defining A Resilient Business Model for Water Utilities, we showed that this proportion of debt service to operating revenues remained relatively steady between FY2003 and FY2012, despite declining water use. Spending a quarter of annual operating revenues on debt service requires careful financial planning on behalf of the utility since debt service is a fixed cost that must be paid regardless of fluctuating water sales and revenues. These findings are part of the research for Water Research Foundation project #4366.

A $napshot is a graphic revealing an interesting environmental finance finding accompanied by a short post. This $napshot was created by Shadi Eskaf.

Changes to Rates and Revenues among 566 Utilities

$napshot: Utility Rate Increases versus Revenue Increases

December 5, 2013 / Shadi Eskaf / 1 Comment

A $napshot is a graphic revealing an interesting environmental finance finding accompanied by a short post. This $napshot was created by Shadi Eskaf.

Changes to Rates and Revenues among 566 Utilities

While revenues usually rise as water and wastewater rates increase, revenues generally rise slower than rates. The graphs show how 566 utilities in three states changed rates over a three or four year period, and the subsequent change to annual revenues in the same time period. Four observations can be made. Continue reading

Cumulative Bill Increases for Water or Combined Water and Wastewater in 1,961 Utilities in Six States Compared to CPI by Region

Water Rate Increases Among 1,961 Utilities in Six States in the Last Decade

October 30, 2013 / Shadi Eskaf / 2 Comments

Shadi Eskaf is a Senior Project Director for the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Our research shows that water rates have been rising faster than CPI inflation in the past few years for hundreds of utilities, particularly after the financial crisis. In some states, however, there were also many utilities whose rates failed to keep pace with inflation.

From a rate-setting perspective, utilities that raised rates more frequently had a double advantage over utilities that raised rates only occasionally or rarely. First: the average annual rate increase was lower than the one-time rate increases of utilities that occasionally raised rates, reducing the rate shock that customers experienced when rates rose. Second: despite the lower average rate increases, utilities that raised rates more frequently accumulated, on average, a larger total increase in rates in a five-year period than utilities that raised rates only occasionally.

Tag: Water Research Foundation (Page 1 of 5)

Can your Water Utility Afford a Bill Payment Assistance Program?

Guest Post by Stacey Berahzer of IB Environmental

Even Total Water Demand is on the Decline at Many Utilities

$napshot: Debt Service as Percent of Total Operating Revenues

$napshot: Utility Rate Increases versus Revenue Increases

Water Rate Increases Among 1,961 Utilities in Six States in the Last Decade

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