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By: Erin Ansbro

New growth has sprung up at EFC! To make our many resources more accessible, we have added “Resources by State” pages for all fifty states. The new layout changes include a clickable map, state-specific information, and all available years of resources in one place.

From the home page, hover over the “Resources” Tab at the top and select “Resources by State” from the dropdown menu that appears. This will bring you to the interactive map where you can then pick the resources you want to view by state.

The darker the blue, the more resources that are available for that particular state. The darkest blue color, as shown below for North Carolina and Arizona indicates that the state has all four categories of the main EFC resources: Reports, Tables, Webinars, and Dashboards. States with the medium color blue have three of the four resources, not including a Dashboard. States with the lightest blue have two state-specific resources, usually a Report and Tables.

Map of state resources

Use this map to find resources for your state

Description of Resources

Once a state is selected from the clickable map, a table of contents will appear, shown below, with the resources available for that state. Choose a button to jump to the page section with that content. In addition to the four main resources available online (Tables, Dashboards, Reports, and Webinars), there are also Trainings, Rate Sheets, and Blog Posts available.

 

Picture of buttons for different resources

Easily navigate resources for your state

Tables: Depending on the state, tables can include water and wastewater rates, system development fees, and stormwater fees. In addition, if there are multiple tables from previous years, they will be listed by year published. For North Carolina, there are tables that go back to 2005, allowing users to see how water and wastewater rates have changed over the years. Each state has a “Funding Sources” Table. This document lists options available to the state to finance water and wastewater projects. All “Funding Sources” Table can be found on the EFC Network website.

Dashboards:  Rates Dashboards are designed to assist utility managers and local officials to compare and analyze water and wastewater rates against multiple characteristics, including utility finances, system characteristics, customer base socioeconomic conditions, geography, and history.

Reports: Reports provide summary information from our surveys on the topics of water and wastewater rates, stormwater financing, and system development fees. All states have a “Navigating Legal Pathways” Report which explains the state-specific opportunities for Customer Assistance Programs (CAPs). These state reports are part of a larger report by EFC tackling the affordability issues of water and wastewater rates.

Webinars: Recordings of webinars show how to use your state’s Rates Dashboard step-by-step, as well as rate setting techniques and other topics.

Trainings: This will take you to EFC’s events page, showing any upcoming trainings in a state.

Rate Sheets: The EFC produces standardized rate sheets for each utility during the process of a rates survey. These pdf rate sheets describe the services a specific utility offers, broken down by service and customer classes.

Blog Posts: Posts from EFC’s Blog that are relevant to the state. For example, Wisconsin is the only Rates Dashboard that incorporates Public Fire Protection Charges to the water bills.

The goal of adding these pages to EFC’s website is to increase accessibility to the numerous resources EFC staff have developed over the years, creating a single, comprehensive place for each resources specific to each state. We hope this new addition aids users in website navigation and finding pertinent materials in their goals of environmental finance.

More Resources

Resources related to COVID-19

EFC Network Funding Resources

Erin Ansbro is a Data Researcher at the EFC working on statewide water and wastewater rates surveys. Erin graduated from the University of Chapel Hill in May 2019 with degrees in Biology and Environmental Studies.