Lessons From The Latest Water And Wastewater Rate Survey

Most utility managers can guess which way rates are trending in 2017 (up), because they understand the common, nationwide problem: Water and wastewater utilities lack the funds needed to maintain current operations and, moreover, to provide necessary infrastructure improvements.

However, there are issues of customer affordability to contend with. There are also various ways to go about rate-setting that can minimize impact. One of the essential elements of effective leadership is learning from others' successes and failures.

What are their stories and methods, and how does your utility compare to others? Rocky Craley of Raftelis Financial Consultants, the firm that conducted the 2016 Water and Wastewater Rate Survey along with the American Water Works Association (AWWA), discussed the takeaways of the annual survey in this edition of Water Talk.