NRDC Releases Water Utility Affordability Tool

This month, the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) released a new and free tool that addresses bill affordability for low-income water and wastewater utility customers. The Water Affordability Business Case Tool allows utilities to model financial impacts of discount programs for low-income customers.

The Tool analyzes the following discount programs:

• Percentage of Income Program (PIP) – bills are capped at a percentage of income deemed affordable by the user;
• Percentage of Bill (POB) – bills are set equal to a percentage discount from the total bill at standard rates; and
• Fixed Dollar Discount (FDD) program, in which each participating household receives a set dollar-amount discount on its bill.

Users can select from various program design options and also analyze results using a range of participation rates by eligible customers, program administrative costs, and other factors. For more information, click here.