Water rates have inflated four times faster since 2017. In city’s neighborhoods, 1 in 5 customers spent 10% or more of their income on water. PWSA (Pittsburgh’s local water supplier) has sent shutoff notices to 20% of their nearly 8000 customers who fell behind on their bills. Payment arrangements can now take years to repay. Water utilities across the country haven’t given discounts to customers, this includes Philadelphia’s own water utility. Louisville’s doesn’t verify incomes, and should be implemented elsewhere. Water bills, among other bills, should be paid for at par with incomes.
Oliver Morrison, "As water bills rise, PWSA ramps up efforts to help low-income customers", contributed by Briana Leone and Alison Kenner, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 13 August 2021, accessed 26 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/water-bills-rise-pwsa-ramps-efforts-help-low-income-customers
Critical Commentary
Water rates have inflated four times faster since 2017. In city’s neighborhoods, 1 in 5 customers spent 10% or more of their income on water. PWSA (Pittsburgh’s local water supplier) has sent shutoff notices to 20% of their nearly 8000 customers who fell behind on their bills. Payment arrangements can now take years to repay. Water utilities across the country haven’t given discounts to customers, this includes Philadelphia’s own water utility. Louisville’s doesn’t verify incomes, and should be implemented elsewhere. Water bills, among other bills, should be paid for at par with incomes.