Water Rates and Data Management

Water pricing is tricky business, as it requires balancing many goals.  The water industry has come a long way in developing pricing structures that:

• Better match prices to the true cost of providing water;
• Promote water conservation;
• Help shift demand away from peak times to reduce stress on the system or environment;
• Stabilize revenue in the face of reduced demand and weather variability; and
• Protect the affordability of water for basic needs.

For these results, utilities need detailed knowledge about their costs, customer use patterns, and trends likely to affect the future of their system.  They also need to communicate this information to elected officials and rate payers to help their communities develop solutions that match their needs.

The resources here are designed to help with all of the above.  They are broken into two subsections:

Resources

What are the experiences of Massachusetts suppliers with rate setting?

• Survey of 114 Massachusetts Water Suppliers –key successes and challenges in rate setting

What are the important lessons learned about rate setting from MA water suppliers?

• Summary of Key Lessons Learned from 7 Massachusetts Rate-Setting Case Studies
• Full Report of Key lessons Learned from 7 Massachusetts Rate-Setting Case Studies 

What Detailed Guidance is Available on Water Rate Setting?

• The American Water Works Association’s Principles of Water Rates, Fees, and Charges (AWWA M1, most recent edition)
• The American Water Works Association’s Developing Rates for Small Systems (AWWA M54, most recent edition)
• Building Better Water Rates for an Uncertain World:  Balancing Revenue Management, Resource Efficiency, and Fiscal Sustainability.  Alliance for Water Efficiency (2014).
• Water Conservation-Oriented Rates: Strategies to Extend Supply, Promote Equity, and Meet Minimum Flow Levels. Wang et al., American Water Works Association (2005).  
• U.S. EPA Water and Wastewater Pricing Resources (manuals, tools, publications, case studies).

What Rate-Setting Tools are Available to Help me with Rate Setting?

• AWE Sales Forecasting and Rate Model
• MA Water and Wastewater Rates Dashboard

More content for Water Suppliers and Municipal Officials:

Toolkit - Site Map  > Municipalities  > Suppliers and Water Commissioners