How to Pay for Distributed Infrastructure

Public utilities generally have 3 ways to pay for water infrastructure: 

• Borrowing 
• Rates and Fees  
• Grants 

Raising capital to invest in distributed water infrastructure can be a challenge because these approaches often involve properties utilities do not own.

Public utilities typically provide financial incentives to their residential and CII customers to implement various efficiency, onsite reuse, GSI, landscape transformation, or source water protection strategies. They may also pay for direct installations; for example, by replacing lead service lines at no cost to the homeowner. All of these options involve spending public dollars on non-utility properties. 

So, determining when public dollars can be spent on non-utility properties is central to understanding whether and how utilities can upscale investments in distributed strategies. 

And scale is the issue. 

Public utilities usually pay for distributed infrastructure with rates, special fees and grants. But only by accessing capital markets will communities be able to finance distributed water infrastructure at levels capable of providing substantial community benefits and enhanced climate resilience. 

Click on the sections below for guidance on: