Category: General Information (Page 3 of 31)

Can your Water Utility Afford a Bill Payment Assistance Program?

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.

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Ongoing Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Conditions on North Carolina’s Water and Wastewater Utilities

Over the past 6 months*, the EFC has continued to investigate how utilities across NC are faring as the ongoing pandemic continues to create a variety of challenges related to revenue and operations. The big picture takeaway is that some things are improving while some things remain the sameMany utilities continue to feel a variety of impacts from COVID-19 on utility revenues and practices, some utilities are transitioning to pre-pandemic billing practices, and some utilities will be providing funds for bill payment assistance to customers who have past due bills.   

This week, the EFC is releasing a report, funded by the NC Policy Collaboratory, that details some of the on-going impacts on water and wastewater utilities that have resulted from COVID-19 and the implementation of NC’s Executive Orders 124/142which prohibited disconnection of residential customers and mandated the establishment of payment plansAs part of its research, the EFC interviewed staff from 16 different utilities and collected survey responses from a total of 34 utilities between August and December 2020. This research included utilities across the state that varied in size from 42-300,000 accounts and which had a wide variety of financial health characteristics. 

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Setting Rates During COVID-19: Florida Rate Survey Shows Utilities are Looking for Answers in the Experience of Others

Guest Post By Nicholas Smith of Raftelis

A new fiscal year typically means new water and wastewater rates for utilities in Florida. Florida utilities have long relied upon small and predictable annual rate increases to ensure their rates are sufficient to cover the cost to serve their customers. In setting rates, Florida utilities have always depended on careful financial analysis. Although COVID-19 has complicated this norm — Florida utilities can still proceed with rate changes, but it is best to proceed with some enhanced strategy. With universally high unemployment rates and utility governing bodies more concerned about affordability than ever, research by Raftelis shows utilities are moving ahead with rate increases, but they are looking for more data than before to support their decisions.

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Using the Revenueshed Model to Investigate Watershed Funding

What is a revenueshed?

A revenueshed is the geographic area within which revenue is generated for a defined purpose. It’s a play on words of watershed, an area that drains all water to a common outlet. The purpose of the revenueshed is to model methods of revenue generation for a designated funding goal using new and existing mechanisms. The revenueshed also expands those who pay beyond the traditional polluter pays model by incorporating additional beneficiaries into the model. For example, rather than using solely the boundary of a watershed to source funding for a water quality project, a wider boundary could be drawn to include local governments holding drinking water allocations for the specified water body[1].

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New State-Specific Resources on EFC Website

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. Continue reading

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