Georgia's utilities use many different rate structures
under an economic regulatory framework that has few rate setting requirements.
These different rates and rate structures have financial impacts on revenue
stability, household expenditures, and water use behavior. Different rate
strategies influence resource use differently and, conversely, efforts
to curtail resource use (for example, conservation) have unique revenue
impacts depending on a utility's rates, rate structure, and customer base.
Despite the critical nature of these impacts, little is known about rate
structure design among utilities across the State.
This survey is far more comprehensive than past surveys which have had
small sample sizes and represented only the largest systems in the State.
Survey results comprise rate information for more than 90 percent of all
local government owned utilities in the State, serving over 95 percent
of all customers served by public water systems.
A novel customer expenditure model developed by EFC was used to calculate
water and wastewater bills for any consumption amount. The development
of the model represents a breakthrough in the methodology for carrying
out large sample size utility rate surveys. For the first time in such
studies, customer bills were calculated across a spectrum of customer
consumption, rather than one or two discrete consumption levels (e.g.
the bill for 5,000 gallons consumed). The results give insight to the
rate setting objectives in place at a particular utility. For example,
a utility might have particularly high bills at large consumption levels
to encourage resource conservation or particularly low bills at small
consumption levels to make the minimum level of services more affordable.
Tables of the results and a report summarizing main findings are all available
in Adobe pdf format above.
For more information, contact Program Managers: Andrew
Westbrook and Stacey
Isaac Berahzer.
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The Environmental Finance Center and the Georgia
Environmental Facilities Authority published short reports and tables
summarizing hundreds of rates, rate structures and trends currently in
use across the state of Georgia. Tables list each surveyed utility's residential
and commercial rate structures and billing totals for various consumption
levels. This information can assist elected officials and staff as they
make decisions related to water and wastewater services during budget
preparations.
Note: Please compare different utility rates with
caution. High rates may be justified and necessary to protect public health.
- Rates in 2009 (published: August 2009) 473 utilities participated in the survey
- Rates in 2008 (published:
July 2008) 477 utilities participated
in the survey
- Rates in 2007 (published:
March 2007) 415 utilities participated
in the survey
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To view your utility's rate sheet, please select from the drop down menu. A pdf file of 2-9 pages
will appear (requires Adobe Reader). Please note that some utilities may
have more than one rate sheet.
Rates as of August 2009. Contact the utilities directly
for the latest, most accurate information.
If you notice an error in your utility's rate structure, please contact
Andrew
Westbrook.
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For all information about water and wastewater rates,
charges and fees, click here.
Presentations on Georgia Rates
View a recording of an online presentation of the 2008 GA Rates Survey results and tables, and a demonstration of how the Rates Dashboard works. The recording is 59 minutes long, and you can skip within the recording. Please turn on your speakers to listen to the presentation.
Click here to download the Powerpoint presentation slides.
Publications on Georgia Rates (click
here for the annual summary reports)
EFC (2008). What
Georgians are Paying for Water and Sewer Services.
A presentation given at the Southeastern Environmental Flows Conference,
October 28th, 2008.
EFC (2008). 2008
Georgia Water & Sewer Rates Dashboard.
A presentation given at the Georgia Rural Water
Association Fall Conference, October 27th, 2008.
EFC (2008). Setting
Rates -2008 Georgia Water & Sewer Rate Survey.
A presentation given to the Georgia Government
Finance Officers Association, October 7th, 2008.
EFC (2008). 2008
Georgia Water & Sewer Rate Survey.
A presentation given at the Georgia Association of Water Professionals
Annual Conference & Expo, August 19th, 2008.
EFC (2007). Water
Pricing Signals in Georgia. EFC, Chapel Hill, NC.
A short memorandum analyzing water price signals and specificially price
signals for water conservation among utilities across Georgia using data
from the 2006-07 Georgia Water and Sewer Rates Survey.
GEFA and EFC (2007). “2006-07
Georgia Water and Sewer Rates Survey”. 2007 Georgia Water Resources
Conference, Athens, GA..
This presentation, which was made during the 2007 Georgia Water Resources
Conference, included a discussion about GEFA and the EFC and the impetus
behind the Rates Survey in Georgia as well as methodology, response rates
and results from the Survey.
EFC (2007). “Residential
Water and Sewer Rates in Georgia”. 2007 Georgia Water Resources
Conference, Athens, GA..
This paper, submitted to the 2007 Georgia Water Resources Conference,
contains a discussion of the residential water rates and customer's bills
based on data from the 2006-07 Rates Survey. It also contains a brief
dicussion on the pricing and revenue stability implications of various
rate structures in Georgia.
EFC (2007). “Water
and Wastewater Rates and Rates Structures in Georgia”. 2007
Paying for Water Conference, USEPA, Atlanta, GA..
This poster was presented at the Paying for Water Conference hosted by
the US EPA in Atlanta in 2007. Graphs and figures depict rates and rate
setting trends across the state in 2006-07.
Publication using non-GA rates:
Thorsten, Richard E., Shadi
Eskaf and Jeffrey Hughes (2008). "Cost
Plus: Estimating Real Determinants of Water and Sewer Bills".
Public Works Management & Policy, 13: 3. Published online on
December 4, 2008.
We ran regressions to examine whether various factors besides cost factors
influenced the rates that utilities charge their residential customers.
We found that cost factors, operating ratio, average temperature, the
application of "outside" rates, utilities' primary importance on affordable
rates and the neighboring utilities' rates are statistically significantly
correlated to the average combined water and sewer bill that utilities
charge their average customer in North Carolina.
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| The Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority
(GEFA) is an agency of the State of Georgia, created by an act of
the General Assembly in 1983, specifically to provide low interest
water and wastewater loans to Georgia's local governments. Our Mission
is to Provide financing and other support services for infrastructure
improvements, energy programs and fuel storage systems that result
in a cleaner environment for all Georgians. |
|
The Environmental Finance Center (EFC), based at
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and with an office
in Atlanta, serves the Southeast region for the US EPA's Environmental
Finance Program. EFC works with local communities and government agencies
to address environmental management challenges by developing innovative
financial management and environmental policy strategies and systems. |
All About Water and Wastewater
Rates
GA Water
and Wastewater Finance Panel
North Carolina Water
and Wastewater Survey Results
The
Painful Art of Setting Water & Sewer Rates
An
Analysis of Public Water and Sewer Providers Rates and Practices (pdf)
September 2008
by the University of
South Carolina Institute for Public Service and Policy Research 
Association County Commissioners of Georgia, www.accg.org
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division,
www.gadnr.org/epd/
Georgia Association of Water Professionals, www.gawp.org/
Georgia Rural Water Association, www.grwa.org
Georgia Municipal Association, www.gmanet.com
Georgia Department of Community Affairs, www.dca.state.ga.us