This report is part of Northeastern Law's resources allocated in their Initiative for Energy Justice program page. In line with recent discussions that have taken and that continue to take place in the city of Philadelphia concerning water rate increases, water disconnections that have taken place throughout the COVID-19 pandemic present the uttermost disregard for not simply energy rights but human rights. In a very capitalistic approach to how our society works, energy conglomerates that have continued or resumed water shutoffs have placed households at serious health risks. More so, the report reveals few utilities have actually tried to reconnect households that had their water shut off prior to the beginning of the pandemic. As the pandemic has progressed, communities with high rates of disconnections had also high incidences of COVID-19 infection. The report, following discussions of the intersection between health and wellbeing and water disconnections, discusses how access to water is a human right. The report also criticizes the federal government for the mere fact it lacks assistance programs that specifically address difficulties with water payment. Even where reconnections and extended moratoriums have been put into place, the question "What will happen when the moratorium ends?" still looms in everybody's minds. Nationally, water affordability has steadily declined and has outpaced increases in household income, becoming holistically unaffordable. The UN states water bills should not exceed 3% of a household's income, but across the nation water and sewage coverage exceed 4.5% of the areas' median household income.
The report states where protections are placed on water bills, the water is actually treated as a lien or a tax (like in Philadelphia) to have water institutions recuperate the money they lose to families. Hence, where the highest rates of water debt are encountered (usually LMI and BIPOC communities) there are higher rates of shutoffs, people encounter more issues when inheriting homes, and see their health progressively worsened since their income is directed toward water-debt repayment. Many families, especially families with children, ultimately have to resolve to extreme methods (going to family members to wash or using bottled water). Cities across the United States were condemned by the UN for violating the human right to access water. The report calls for radical changes and reform at the federal, state, and local policies. Among some of the proposals at the federal are: appropriating more funds among utilities that sustain infrastructure so that the cost is relieved from customers; having a ban on shutoffs for households not able to pay (this irrespective of the season); setting mandatory affordability standards. At the state level, proposed reforms include: use CARES Act funds or similar future funds to erase arrears in the area and prevent disconnections; track demographic data on shutoffs for transparency and liability. At the local level, Brandt (2020) proposes using a more effective customer assistance program, citing Philadelphia's own Tiered Assistance Program - here, perhaps, criticism should be brought in about the program itself, which is not as transparent with its customers and is, actually, a way in which water debt is inherited intergenerational - and others of the like, prohibiting water disconnections and, instead, using alternative collection methods.
Source
Brandt, L. (2020, Dec). Disconnected: How household water shutoffs in the United States during the COVID pandemic violate the human right to water. Northeastern University Law: Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy. https://www.northeastern.edu/law/pdfs/academics/phrge/disconnected-water...
Linnea Brandt, "Disconnected: How Household Water Shutoffs in the United States during the COVID pandemic Violate the Human Right to Water", contributed by Briana Leone, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 21 March 2021, accessed 25 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/disconnected-how-household-water-shutoffs-united-states-during-covid-pandemic-violate-human
Critical Commentary
This report is part of Northeastern Law's resources allocated in their Initiative for Energy Justice program page. In line with recent discussions that have taken and that continue to take place in the city of Philadelphia concerning water rate increases, water disconnections that have taken place throughout the COVID-19 pandemic present the uttermost disregard for not simply energy rights but human rights. In a very capitalistic approach to how our society works, energy conglomerates that have continued or resumed water shutoffs have placed households at serious health risks. More so, the report reveals few utilities have actually tried to reconnect households that had their water shut off prior to the beginning of the pandemic. As the pandemic has progressed, communities with high rates of disconnections had also high incidences of COVID-19 infection. The report, following discussions of the intersection between health and wellbeing and water disconnections, discusses how access to water is a human right. The report also criticizes the federal government for the mere fact it lacks assistance programs that specifically address difficulties with water payment. Even where reconnections and extended moratoriums have been put into place, the question "What will happen when the moratorium ends?" still looms in everybody's minds. Nationally, water affordability has steadily declined and has outpaced increases in household income, becoming holistically unaffordable. The UN states water bills should not exceed 3% of a household's income, but across the nation water and sewage coverage exceed 4.5% of the areas' median household income.
The report states where protections are placed on water bills, the water is actually treated as a lien or a tax (like in Philadelphia) to have water institutions recuperate the money they lose to families. Hence, where the highest rates of water debt are encountered (usually LMI and BIPOC communities) there are higher rates of shutoffs, people encounter more issues when inheriting homes, and see their health progressively worsened since their income is directed toward water-debt repayment. Many families, especially families with children, ultimately have to resolve to extreme methods (going to family members to wash or using bottled water). Cities across the United States were condemned by the UN for violating the human right to access water. The report calls for radical changes and reform at the federal, state, and local policies. Among some of the proposals at the federal are: appropriating more funds among utilities that sustain infrastructure so that the cost is relieved from customers; having a ban on shutoffs for households not able to pay (this irrespective of the season); setting mandatory affordability standards. At the state level, proposed reforms include: use CARES Act funds or similar future funds to erase arrears in the area and prevent disconnections; track demographic data on shutoffs for transparency and liability. At the local level, Brandt (2020) proposes using a more effective customer assistance program, citing Philadelphia's own Tiered Assistance Program - here, perhaps, criticism should be brought in about the program itself, which is not as transparent with its customers and is, actually, a way in which water debt is inherited intergenerational - and others of the like, prohibiting water disconnections and, instead, using alternative collection methods.