Tag: water affordability (Page 2 of 6)

Challenges and Innovations: Current and Future States of Water Affordability: Part 2

May 9, 2019 /

Guest Post By Stacey Isaac Berahzer and Christine Boyle, PhD

Note: This is the second in a series of Valor Water Analytics blog posts exploring water affordability, customer nonpayment, and technology that can enable utilities to deliver water more equitably and sustainably to all customers.  It was originally posted to  Valor Water Analytics on April 22, 2019. You can read the first post here.

Where We Are Today: Identifying and Reaching Vulnerable Customers

In our last blog post, we discussed affordability topics that have been relatively well-covered in the water industry and academic research: the definition and measurement of affordability in the context of water service delivery, and an overview of customer assistance program (CAP) creation and funding. Though not necessarily solved, these issues have been discussed in many publications and conference proceedings. In this post, we will discuss a topic that has received less coverage: how a lack of customer information and contact data makes it difficult for utilities to increase CAP enrollment. Continue reading

Challenges and Innovations: Current and Future States of Water Affordability

April 22, 2019 /

Guest Post By Stacey Isaac Berahzer and Christine Boyle, PhD

Note: This is the first in a series of Valor Water Analytics blog posts exploring water affordability, customer nonpayment, and technology that can enable utilities to deliver water more equitably and sustainably to all customers.  It was originally posted to  Valor Water Analytics on April 2, 2019.

Where We Are: Assessment of Water Affordability Today

Given the looming affordability crisis, new interventions are needed to help communities pay their water bills, while also helping utilities collect the water and wastewater fees needed to fund much-needed infrastructure upgrades. To date, a large volume of work on how to measure affordability has been undertaken, but what is sorely needed are programmatic strategies to help both households and utilities cope with the mounting costs of clean water provision. Continue reading

New Year, New Updates

January 18, 2019 /

Updates for Navigating Legal Pathways to Fund Rate-Funded Customer Assistance Programs

In 2017, the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill led a team of experts in summarizing legal barriers and opportunities to establish customer assistance programs using rate revenue, resulting in Navigating Legal Pathways to Fund Rate-Funded Customer Assistance Programs. Below is a brief summary of noteworthy changes that have taken place since that report was published in July 2017.

As water and wastewater prices continue to increase, due to a variety of factors, more utilities may find the need to establish assistance programs for some of their customers. In light of this and due to the passing and amending of new/old legislation, the EFC periodically updates all current state and territory summaries, and additionally, will be adding summaries for the other U.S. territories not previously included. Continue reading

This Week in Water Affordability News (and Perspectives)

October 31, 2018 /

Interested in the challenge of protecting public and environmental health without losing sight of the burden those goals may place on some segments of our society?  The affordability challenge sits at the intersection of efforts to assure adequate investment in critical public health infrastructure with social and equity concerns and three recent pieces that came across my virtual desk over the last few weeks illustrate different perspectives related to the same challenge.

Continue reading

Metrics to Determine Principal Forgiveness Eligibility: Highlighting EPA Region 4

July 5, 2018 /

The State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs have become a well-known financing option for many water and wastewater infrastructure projects across the country. This is mainly due to the longevity of the clean water (CWSRF) and drinking water (DWSRF) programs and the appealing financing options, such as low-interest rates, offered in each state. However, many communities across the country still struggle to obtain this federal money, despite the borrowing incentives, due to capacity at the community level. In 2014, changes in the Clean Water Act permanently added an affordability section[1] to the CWSRF program. On the DWSRF program side, the American Recovery Act of 2009 required states to offer additional forms of subsidization to applicants, including principal forgiveness[2]. This brings up the question: What metrics are states using—or should consider using—to determine principal forgiveness eligibility for low-income communities? Continue reading

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