WATER AFFORDABILITY AND ALTERNATIVES TO SERVICE DISCONNECTION

Rising costs and rising water bills are inevitable. For customers, the problem of water affordability may result in increased arrearages, la te payments, disconnection notices, and service terminations. Utilitie s, under increasing pressure to respond to affordability and disconnec tion problems, generally prefer assistance-oriented programs in cooper ation with social agencies over rate structure modifications. In this article the author reviews available options including financial couns eling, arrearage forgiveness, payment discounts, income-based payments , lifeline rates, targeted conservation, disconnection moratoria, and flow restriction.