Water utility mangers, water board members, administrators and others across the state involved in the process of setting customer water rates are invited to a free teleconference Wednesday, June 12, from 2:45-6 p.m. in Assembly Room 101-B of the National Research Center for Coal and Energy at West Virginia University.

The objective of the live satellite teleconferenceoriginating from the Penn State Harrisburg Environmental Training Center and Small Public Water Systems Technology Assistance Centeris to provide viewers with general rate setting skills and methodology, whether their present rate structure is based on metered or flat charges.

Featured speaker will be Jean Halloway, training manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Region 3 Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland. She will be joined by five panelists with many years of experience in community and utility financial management and planning. Participants will be able to submit questions by phone, fax or email during the broadcast.

For more information and free registration, contact Sandy Miller, National Environmental Training Center for Small Communities, P.O. Box 6064, Morgantown, WV 26506 -6064; by phone at 1-800-624-8301; or by email at smiller2@wvu.edu .

Communities and organizations also have the option of hosting their own downlink site. A site fee of $100 covers downlink access to the teleconference and one packet of handout materials. To view the program, sites must have access to C-band downlink from approximately 3-6 p.m. on June 12. For more information on registering as a downlink site, contact Allison Shuler by phone at 717-948-6388 or by email at ajs28@psu.edu .