Ready to be Rescued: How Utilities and Their Customers are Accessing Low Income Households Water Assistance Program Funds

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 are providing $1.1 billion for public water systems to reduce arrearages and rates charged to low-income households. This is huge news for utilities and a big step in acknowledging concerns about affordability. The result is the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), a first of its kind assistance program for water bills, modeled after the long-standing and successful Low-Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Health and Human Services' Office of Community Services (OCS) has been hard a work developing the model program and as of August 2021, the state, tribal and territory grantees are in high gear responding to the model program with their own and submitting the program documents to OCS for approval. The states are also starting the hard work of standing up the new programs so that the funds can be distributed to customers in need by the deadline at the end of 2023. With flexibility built into the model program, the programs will vary from state to state and individual utilities will have varying experiences. This presentation will cover trends in programs to date and share the experiences of several utilities. One of the utilities, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) will present on its involvement in shaping Ohio's program and its experience with LIHWAP. NEORSD is the largest wastewater treatment provider in the State of Ohio, spanning 380 square miles. NEORSD serves 62 communities and one million residents and treats 90 billion gallons of wastewater a year. In addition to its award-winning treatment plant and laboratory performance, the Sewer District's Project Clean Lake construction program will reduce annual Lake Erie pollution by 4 billion gallons by 2036, while its Regional Stormwater Management Program. LIHWAP is rapidly evolving and the presentation will cover the current status, utilities' experiences, lessons learned to date, and what is coming next.