Finance Working Group
The Finance Working Group was convened in 2022 to bring together subject matter experts from the financial and insurance industries, academia, and water sector utility managers to investigate the impacts of near- and long- term weather variability on water utility bond ratings and credit worthiness.
The Working Group’s goals are to share information to foster a cross-disciplinary understanding of the effects of weather-related vulnerabilities, how water utilities manage associated risks, and how financial and insurance industries utilize this information when assessing water sector utility credit worthiness. The Working Group recognized that water sector utilities that effectively identify, manage, and disclose these risks and resiliency efforts in a responsible manner are more highly rated, broaden the investor base, improve insurance access and pricing, and gain more support from ratepayers. The March 2024 Report below details the Working Group’s discussion and findings.
In 2024, the Working Group is investigating and discussing three main topics: 1) data to identify long- and short-term extreme weather threats at water sector utilities; 2) methods and practices to identify and assess risks from these threats; and 3) effective outreach and disclosure practices to manage these risks.
Finance Working Group Resources
-
Natural Disaster Preparedness in the Drinking Water and Wastewater Sectors and the Impact on Financial Resilience, Insurability, and Credit and Investment Quality (pdf) Workgroup report on initial discussion and findings.