Providing Water Bill Relief to Those in Need Should be Easier

We are all heartened by the $638 million water bill relief for low income households recently passed by congress as part of the latest COVID Relief Bill. Although this amount is a drop in the bucket of the estimated $1.1 billion in outstanding water bills due to COVID-19 financial hardship, it is a signal that the federal government recognizes the magnitude and impact of economically distressed households and utilities. 

For professionals involved in funding, designing and administering Customer Assistance Programs (C.A.P.), we recognize that getting funds to the right households, in the right amount, at the right time, is much harder to accomplish than often considered.  This article offers insight into how to use data to inform the size, participants, and programs to provide water & wastewater bill relief.

A C.A.P. lifecycle I frequently observe indicates that funding is necessary but not sufficient to get water bill relief to those in need. A common C.A.P. cycle may go like this:

• Utility identifies affordability as a key issue
• Gets board support
• Allots sufficient budget
• Designs novel affordability program (eligibility, funding, admin, etc)
• Launches program
• In 12 months, faces difficult questions as to why enrollment numbers are so low, funds remain undistributed, arrears remain high. 

More than a handful of municipal programs and case studies reviewed at the AWWA Transformative Issues Symposium on Affordability, held in Washington DC in 2019 expressed versions of this cycle. 

How can we help customer assistance program succeed in getting relief to the right households at the right time? Moving beyond passive strategies to enroll needy & eligible customers in programs is a must. A helpful step in this direction is to use data we have at our fingertips, customer payment patterns, to help identify high payment risk customers. This type of payment risk assessment can help utilities know:

• The number of customers in need
• The assistance amount ($ total per customer) to help customers get back on an on-time payment path
• Indications of types of programs appropriate for different customers. For example, will a payment arrangement help get them through a tough time, or will they need financial assistance?

This approach is not a panacea, we all know issues of affordability and water equity are complex. What this approach does offer, however, is acknowledgement that customers in need are not a homogenous group and we have new ways to approach customers and provide an appropriate crutch in times of need. 

It is also true that households facing economic distress in 2020-21 have not habitually been non-payers of their utility bills.  Economic circumstances for many this year are the most trying their families may have ever faced.  Using data to unpack who may need temporary assistance to make it through this trying time is a great way to build a collaborative relationship between customers and water suppliers. 

Contact me at:[email protected] to talk more about nonpayment mitigation analytics.  

Other helpful resources on accessing these funds and setting up Customer Assistance Programs include: