The Environmental Finance Center @ The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (efc@unc)

In our extensive work with local communities, the EFC has noticed a growing gap between professional water and sewer utility staff and their governing boards regarding the need to implement financial management and full cost pricing practices. Many professional staff including public works directors, utility managers, and facility operators would like to implement more proactive financial planning practices and improved rate structures; however, they are often handicapped in their efforts by a lack of policy tools that they could use to convince their governing boards, other decision makers and the public. Drinking water quality or sewage treatment capacity are put at risk when a utility is unable to make the case for proactive financial management or full cost pricing practices.

In response, the EFC has launched an initiative to give practitioners data-driven practical tools and analyses that can be used to clearly illustrate and promote the benefits of sustainable finance practices and the environmental risks associated with poor financial health. In development of these tools, the EFC will analyze financial management strategies among utilities on a statewide and regional level. The EFC will also work directly with several North Carolina utilities to assess their financial health help them move towards financial sustainability.

If you would like to learn more about the initiative or you are a utility professional and are interested in working with the EFC to assess your system’s financial health and to make the case for sustainable finance practices, please contact Andrew Westbrook (westbrok@sog.unc.edu) at 919-966-4199 or Jeff Hughes (jhughes@sog.unc.edu) at 919-843-4956.