North Carolina Water & Wastewater Rates and Rate Structures

View and listen to a recorded webinar, or view the powerpoint slides on the State of Rates.

Short memo and tables of Tap Fees and System Development Charges in NC in 2009.

Research conducted by the EFC and the North Carolina League of Municipalities. Funded by the Public Water Supply Section of the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Reports and Tables For years 2005 through 2009	Interactive Tools and Dashboards Last updated in April 14, 2009
View Your Utility's Rate Sheet(s) Rates effective January 2009	Publications, Presentations and Other Information
Project Description	Participate in Next Year's Survey
Related Links

Project Description

Every year, the Environmental Finance Center (EFC) and the North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM) collect rate schedules from hundreds of local government and not-for-profit utilities across the state. The sampled utilities serve over 95 percent of all customers who are served by public owned utilities in North Carolina. The rate schedules are used to determine what residential and commercial customers of these utilities are billed for their water, irrigation and wastewater service, at various consumption levels. Information on rates and rate structures across the state are compiled into annual reports and tables and shared among utility managers. This information can assist elected officials and staff as they make decisions related to water and wastewater services during budget preparations. Funding for this project was provided by the Public Water Supply Section of the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

For more information:
Please contact Shadi Eskaf at the Environmental Finance Center, or Chris Nida at the North Carolina League of Municipalities.

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Annual Summary Reports and Tables of Rates and Rate Structures

Every year, the EFC and the NCLM publish a short report summarizing the rates, rate structures and trends currently in use across the state of North Carolina. Tables list each surveyed utility's residential, irrigation and commercial rate structures and billing totals for various consumption levels.
Note: Please compare different utility rates with caution. High rates may be justified and necessary to protect public health.

In the 2009 summary report, we answer the following questions:

Tools for Comparisons
What is this study?
How many and which utilities and types of rates are analyzed in this report?
Where can I find tools and tables I can use to help me evaluate our rates?

Current Rate Structure Designs
What are the utilities' base charges?
How much consumption is included in these base charges?
What are the most common rate structure types in North Carolina?
How do rate structures differ between commercial and residential customers?
How do rate structures differ between indoor and irrigation/outdoor rates?
For block rate structures, how much consumption is included in the first block?
How much do utilities charge per 1,000 gallons near the average consumption level?
What does the State recommend for residential rate structures?

Current Rates
How much is charged for residential consumption?
How much is charged for commercial consumption?
How much is charged for residential irrigation water?
How do rates differ based on utility size, utility type or river basin?
How do rates differ for customers inside or outside municipal boundaries?

How Rates Changed Last Year
How often do utilities change their rates?
How did residential rate structures change in the past year?
By how much did utilities raise their residential rates last year?
Did the price for high levels of consumption increase last year?

Affordability
What does the average North Carolinian pay for water and/or wastewater service?
How affordable are utility rates in North Carolina?

Promoting Conservation
What have utilities done to promote conservation through non-price strategies?
What can utilities do with rates to encourage conservation?

Financial Sustainability
Do prices reflect the true cost of water services in North Carolina?
Are high rates always bad?

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View Your Utility's Rate Sheet(s) for January 2009 (FY2008-09)

To view your utility's rate sheet for Fiscal Year 2008-09, please select from the drop down menu. A pdf file of 2-11 pages will appear (requires Adobe Reader). Please note that some utilities may have more than one rate sheet. For example: Beaufort County has one rate sheet per district, Raleigh has different rate sheets for different service areas, etc. If you notice an error in your rate sheet, please contact Shadi Eskaf with the corrections.

Rates effective as of January 2009. Contact the utilities directly for the latest, most accurate information.

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Publications, Presentations and Analyses Using NC Rates Data

Publications on North Carolina Rates (click here for the annual summary reports)

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.

NCLM and EFC (2006). How Much Does Clean Water Cost? 2006: The Story Behind the Revenue - An Analysis of the Rates & Rate-Setting Practices that Fund Water and Sewer Services in North Carolina. NCLM and Environmental Finance Center, Raleigh, NC.
A comprehensive report identifying some of the most important factors influencing water and sewer rate setting practices. The report summarizes statewide rates and rate structures, highlights popular practices in utility administration and the interactions between rates and policies including cost-recovery, conservation, affordability, regionalization, economic development and growth management. The intended readers are utility managers, financial directors and local government officials. Includes a 35 page report, summary of responses on a 12-page survey, and 145 pages of utility level data tables.

Hughes, Jeff, Shadi Eskaf and Rich Thorsten (2006). "Financial Analysis of Residential Water and Sewer Rates and Rate Setting Practices". Environmental Finance Center.
A 24-page paper published at the national 2006 AWWA/WEF Joint Management Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. The report presents the methodology used in our analysis, as well as analysis on how different components of rate structures vary across the state and how rates compare to operating revenues and operating expenses, median household income, and reductions in consumption levels.

Hughes, Jeff, Shadi Eskaf and Rich Thorsten (2006). "Multi-Level Financial Analysis of Residential Water and Wastewater Rates and Rate-Setting Practices".Water Utility Management International, 1: 4, p. 18-22.
A 5-page paper published after the international IWA World Water Congress, describing the methods used and some results from our analyses.

Westbrook, Andrew (2006). "One-time Fees for Residential Water and Sewer Connections in North Carolina". Environmental Finance Center.
This document reports results from an EFC survey of initial, one-time fees for new residential water and sewer customers in North Carolina. The survey focuses on tap and impact fee amounts for 2005.

Millonzi, Kara (2006). "Lawful Discrimination in Utility Ratemaking: Part 1 and Part 2". Local Finance Bulletin, Numbers 33 and 34, Oct. 2006.
These bulletins examine constraints on the power of local government-owned utilities in North Carolina to classify their customers for the purposes of charging different rents, rates, fees, charges, and penalties for utility services. Part 1 explores the ability to discriminate among various types of customers whose properties lie within the local government's territorial boundaries. Part 2 focuses on the classification of utility customers whose properties lie outside those territorial boundaries.

Hughes, Jeff (2005). "The Painful Art of Setting Water and Sewer Rates". Popular Government, 70: 3, UNC School of Government, p. 4-14.
The cover article for the Spring/Summer 2005 issue of the UNC School of Government's Popular Government journal. The article looks at the fundamental principles behind water and sewer revenues, focusing on high-priority financial decisions that water and sewer boards face.

Presentations on North Carolina Rates

March 2007 - WRRI Conference, Raleigh, NC.
Presenters: Shadi Eskaf and Rich Thorsten (using FY06-07 rates).
"Pricing as a Conservation Tool: Do Rate Block Structures Really Matter?"

March 2007 - Duke Conference: The Future of Water in North Carolina, Durham, NC.
Presenter: Jeff Hughes.
"Pricing Matters: The Role of Rates in Promoting Sustainable Water Management"

September 2006 - IWA World Water Congress, Beijing, China.
Presenters: Shadi Eskaf and Rich Thorsten (using FY05-06 rates).
"Analysis of Differences in Residential Water and Sewer Rates and Practices"
Click here to learn more about the presentation in Beijing, China.

April 2006 - WRRI Conference, Raleigh, NC.
Presenters: Shadi Eskaf and Rich Thorsten (using FY05-06 rates).
"Financial Analysis of Residential Water and Wastewater Rates"

February 2006 - National AWWA/WEF Joint Management Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.
Presenters: Jeff Hughes and Rich Thorsten (using FY05-06 rates).
"Financial Analysis of Residential Water and Wastewater Rates"

November 2005 - NC AWWA/WEA Conference, Greensboro, NC.
Presenters: Jeff Hughes and Shadi Eskaf (using FY04-05 rates).
"Financial Analysis of Residential Water and Wastewater Rates"

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How to Participate in Next Year's Survey

If you represent a local government or not-for-profit water/wastewater utility in North Carolina, and directly charge residential customers for water and wastewater services based on consumption, we invite you to participate in our annual rates and rate structures survey. Members of the North Carolina League of Municipalities are especially encouraged to participate.

Your participation in this short survey will allow us to provide you with a report and tables comparing your rates and practices to other utilities and to include your utility in the Rates Dashboard tool that allows you to compare your rates against other utilities with similar characteristics. Participating utilities will receive a downloadable version of the Rates Dashboards for free, a $50 value. Over 400 utilities are now included in the database, making this one of the largest surveys of this kind in the United States.

Please note that we have finished collecting rate sheets for the 2009 survey. 498 utilities across North Carolina participated in the survey, and the reports, tables and Dashboards will be updated in March 2009.

For next year, starting in November 2009, we will be requesting a copy of your water/wastewater rates schedule, including, as applicable to your utility:

• Residential/non-residential rates,
• Inside/Outside rates,
• Irrigation/Standard rates,
• One-time fees charged to customers for installing new service lines for the first time, and
• Rates in different service districts

Please also indicate the billing period applicable for the rates shown in your rate schedule (monthly, bi-monthly, etc).

You can send us your rates schedule in one of three ways:
1) By email: efc@sog.unc.edu (be sure to put "NC Rates Collection" in the subject heading)
2) Or by fax: (919) 843-2528 with "Attn: NC Rates Collection"
3) Or by mail:
Environmental Finance Center, Attn: NC Rates Collection
School of Government, Knapp-Sanders Building
CB#3330, UNC
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3330

We, the North Carolina League of Municipalities and the Environmental Finance Center, appreciate the response and support from the NC utilities. If you have any questions, please contact Shadi Eskaf at the EFC (919-962-2785) or Chris Nida at the NCLM (919-715-3945).

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Related Links

All About Water and Wastewater Rates

NC Tap and Impact Fees

Survey of GA Water and Wastewater Rates and Rate Structures (by the EFC and GEFA)

EFC Presents at the IWA World Water Congress in Beijing, China - September 2006

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