If you advise utilities
Rate consultants, engineering firms, vendors. We build the part that is the same on every engagement, so your hours go to the part that is not.
- Normalized consumption panelsInstead of spending the first two weeks of a study finding out whether the billing extract is usable.
- Affordability exhibitsInstead of pulling census tables by hand for the bill-impact exhibit.
- Filing extractionInstead of keying figures out of a PDF into a spreadsheet.
Every figure comes with its source. You can put your own name on it. You get files on a schedule, not an integration.
If you are the utility
Cities, districts, regional systems. The study itself, built from your audited statements and your own billing records.
- Cost-of-service and rate studyInstead of adopting a percentage increase with nothing behind it to show at the hearing.
- System valuation and options reviewInstead of weighing an offer against the number on the balance sheet.
- Consolidation feasibility studyInstead of deciding whether to combine before anybody has costed it.
If you oversee systems
State programs with an intervention mandate. A view of your own program, built from the filings you have already published.
Two exhibits
IllustrativeNames, dates and figures invented.
The week before the study starts
Is this billing extract usable?
Billing extract, first pass
City of Ellery water fund · 8,412 accounts · 24 monthly periods to June 2026
Forty-seven account-periods carry a flag. All forty-seven stay in the panel with the reason beside them.
| Class | Meter | Periods | Flagged | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | 5/8 in | 24 | 0 | |
| Residential | 1 in | 24 | 2 | Meter changed mid-period |
| Commercial | 1 in | 24 | 0 | |
| Commercial | 2 in | 24 | 3 | Consumption implausible |
| Irrigation | 1 in | 18 | 18 | Partial period |
| Industrial | 4 in | 24 | 0 | |
| Code 58 | mixed | 24 | 24 | Class code unmapped |
We flag rather than drop. What gets excluded from the study is not our decision, and the reason for every flag is on the row it belongs to.
Budget season
Can we afford the capital plan?
Financial plan
City of Ellery water fund · FY27 to FY32 · $26M lead service line replacement, drawn FY29
Coverage falls below the 1.20× covenant in FY30 and does not recover. Scenario B holds it with a 9.5% increase in FY29.
| Year | Net revenue | Debt service | Coverage | Margin over 1.20× |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY27 | $6.02M | $4.18M | 1.44× | +0.24× |
| FY28 | $6.18M | $4.31M | 1.43× | +0.23× |
| FY29 | $6.35M | $5.25M | 1.21× | +0.01× |
| FY30 | $6.41M | $5.94M | 1.08× | −0.12× |
| FY31 | $6.52M | $6.11M | 1.07× | −0.13× |
| FY32 | $6.64M | $6.18M | 1.07× | −0.13× |
Debt service is the existing schedule plus the new loan, level over twenty years. The 1.20× minimum is the bond ordinance, section 5.2.
| Year | Net revenue | Debt service | Coverage | Margin over 1.20× |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY27 | $6.02M | $4.18M | 1.44× | +0.24× |
| FY28 | $6.18M | $4.31M | 1.43× | +0.23× |
| FY29 | $7.02M | $5.25M | 1.34× | +0.14× |
| FY30 | $7.28M | $5.94M | 1.23× | +0.03× |
| FY31 | $7.46M | $6.11M | 1.22× | +0.02× |
| FY32 | $7.61M | $6.18M | 1.23× | +0.03× |
Same debt service. Net revenue reflects a 9.5% increase adopted in FY29 and no increase after it. Bond ordinance, section 5.2.
If the coverage your bonds require is higher than what your customers can pay, rate design cannot close the gap. That is a decision for the board, and the subject of a separate study.
Find a utility by name.
We publish verified facts and state when underlying data is missing.
Who you would be working with
All three of us work on the engagement directly. No account manager and no handoff.
We will read your last rate study at no charge.
Send the last rate study, the audited statements, the current rate schedule and a recent billing extract. We reconcile what the study assumed against what you actually billed, and against what your system filed with its regulator.
[email protected]- Who it is for
- Water and sewer utilities, and the cities and districts that own them
- Who you get
- All three of us on the job, start to finish
The water loss index is a public example of this work, built from published data.