A Practical Guide to Water Pricing Strategies
Understand how water utilities develop revenue requirements, allocate costs across customer classes, and design rates that are defensible, equitable, and recoverable. Built for utility finance and accounting professionals.
- 12 lessons · self-paced video
- Downloadable course materials
- Water rate design case study
- NASBA-compliant final exam (5 questions)
- Certificate of completion (1.00 CPE)
Apply Water Rate Design with Confidence
Water utilities face unique rate-setting challenges — seasonal demand, infrastructure costs, conservation goals, and regulatory requirements all compete in the revenue requirement. This course gives you a practical, step-by-step understanding of how water utilities develop cost-of-service studies and build rate structures that work.
Whether you're a utility finance professional expanding into water rates, a municipal accountant supporting rate proceedings, or a manager who needs to understand the rate-making process, this course gives you the foundation to participate confidently.
- Municipal utility finance and accounting staff
- Water utility managers and directors
- Electric utility professionals expanding to water
- Rate analysts and consultants
- City and county finance officers
- Board and council members overseeing water utilities
Russ Hissom, CPA
Russ Hissom, CPA is a principal of UtilityEducation.com, providing on-demand professional education in FERC, RUS, FASB, and GASB accounting, finance, and ratemaking for electric utilities and cooperatives. He has conducted cost-of-service studies for municipal utilities and cooperatives, provided expert testimony in rate proceedings, and developed CPE curriculum used by utility finance professionals across the country.
What You'll Be Able to Do After This Course
Inside the Course
How water utilities are structured, regulated, and financed — and how the revenue requirement is built from operating and capital cost components.
- 1.1 Welcome & Course Overview Free Preview
- 1.2 How Water Utilities Are Structured and Regulated
- 1.3 Developing the Revenue Requirement
- 1.4 Operating and Capital Cost Components
Cost allocation methodology, customer class allocation, rate structure options including flat, tiered, and inclining block rates, and conservation pricing strategies.
- 2.1 Cost Allocation Methodology for Water Utilities
- 2.2 Allocating Costs to Customer Classes
- 2.3 Rate Structure Options: Flat, Tiered, and Inclining Block
- 2.4 Conservation Pricing Strategies
Apply the concepts to a practical case study, learn to communicate rate changes to stakeholders, and complete the NASBA-compliant final exam.
- 3.1 Practical Case Study: Building a Water Rate Structure
- 3.2 Communicating Rate Changes to Stakeholders
- 3.3 Review & Key Takeaways
- 3.4 Final Exam
Trusted by Over 1,000 Utility Professionals
"This course finally made AI feel practical for utility finance—not theoretical. I was able to apply the tools immediately to KPI reviews and variance explanations."
"The examples and prompts were immediately useful. It helped our team move from curiosity about AI to confident use."
"Clear, practical, and very relevant to utility accounting. No coding, no hype—just useful workflows that save time."
"I appreciated the focus on governance and policy. It helped us introduce AI in a way our leadership and board were comfortable with."
"The 30-day implementation plan was extremely helpful. It gave our team a realistic roadmap instead of another abstract AI discussion."
"This was an incredible overview! I cannot wait to share this with others. I LOVED how you explained things. You have great speaking and explanation skills."
Build Your Water Rate Expertise
Earn 1.00 NASBA CPE credit and gain the practical skills to support your utility's next rate study.
Utility Accounting and Rates Specialists, LLC is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: NASBAregistry.org.
Requests for refunds must be made in writing within 30 days of purchasing the course. No refunds will be granted after the qualified assessment has been completed. For any concerns, please contact us at 608-628-4020 or at russ.hissom@utilityeducation.com.
Course materials are provided for informational and educational purposes only. They do not constitute legal, accounting, or professional advice. © 2026 Utility Accounting & Rates Specialists, LLC. All rights reserved.