Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy
Document Type
Symposium Article
Abstract
The vast majority of Americans depend on a public water supply for the procurement and delivery of their water. Water providers are tasked with securing water supplies for the future, building and maintaining the infrastructure needed for delivery, and ensuring service is available for new customers. This system has worked for many decades in part because the costs of water and construction were relatively low; however, in the past twenty years, water rates have increased at twice the rate of inflation. At the same time, income has remained stagnant. Water services now require a larger percentage of household budgets than ever before.
Cities face a heightened challenge because current water supplies are often not sufficient for projected growth. Unpredicted events, such as a global pandemic or extreme weather events, worsen the problem. Further, the majority of the nation’s water infrastructure requires extensive upgrades due to years of delayed maintenance. The majority of these costs will come from collected revenues. As affordability becomes a growing concern, utilities have created Customer Assistance Programs to help users can manage their bills, but implementation faces many challenges. Costs can add up quickly, the current cost of service model can constrain how such programs are funded, and a utility must determine who qualifies for these programs.
Because water is an essential need, solutions must be found to meet the needs of water customers. This Paper considers how affordability programming should be developed to ensure people can maintain access to this critical resource and proposes alternatives to assist users while effectively managing utility budgets. Utilities need to adopt a variety of assistance programs that are both preventive and responsive to customer expenses and legal changes to cost of service limitations are needed to allow cross subsidization of customer classes and assist the utilities’ resilience and revenue stability.
Recommended Citation
16 St. Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol'y 61 (2022)