Pittsburgh, PA - With each event that the PGH2O Cares team attends and each phone call our Customer Service Representatives take, word is getting out about our Customer Assistance Programs and the benefits they provide.

This is evident in current enrollment numbers for our Bill Discount Program - 5,010 customers as of today, October 14, 2021. This is an increase of 68 percent since May of 2019 and approximately a 20 percent increase from the end of 2020, prior to launching PGH2O Cares – a team of outreach and education specialists dedicated to enrolling customers in these important programs.

“We have worked hard to expand our customer assistance programs and it is now part of the culture at PWSA,” Will Pickering, CEO of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority said. “We routinely collaborate with community partners to make our programs accessible to the customers who need them the most. The progress we have made this year to increase enrollment demonstrates our organizational-wide commitment to our customers.”

When we first introduced our customer assistance programs in 2018, the goal was to provide our most financially vulnerable customers with assistance to reduce their water and wastewater conveyance bills and to protect them from rate increases. We estimate that 23 percent of our approximately 111,000 customers are eligible to enroll in our customer assistance programs – today, about 19 percent of all potentially eligible customers are enrolled.

The Bill Discount Program provides the most immediate benefits and is available to customers who are earning an annual income that is less than or equal to 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). When first established, it offered a discount of approximately $26.00 on the base rate for water and sewer charges. In 2021, the program benefit increased to $35.78 – providing a 100 percent discount so that the first 1,000 gallons of water are free. It also includes a 20 percent discount on water and sewer charges for very-low-income customers. Additionally, customers who are enrolled in the Bill Discount Program and on a payment plan will receive a $15 credit for each on-time payment to forgive and more quickly pay off any past due balances.

Other assistance programs include the Winter Shutoff Moratorium, which protects customers who are at or below 300 percent of the FPL from water shutoffs during the winter months, and the Hardship Grant Program that offers up to $300 annual grants to customers to put towards their past due charges.

Increased outreach is a contributing factor to the improved enrollment numbers. Due to the launch of the PGH2O Cares team in January, enrollment numbers have steadily increased. Since February of this year, they have attended 36 community events, presented at community meetings, and are tabling at Farmers Markets each week in Carrick, East Liberty, and the Northside to build awareness about our programs and encourage customers to enroll. We also provide organizations like the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh with flyers to distribute to patrons, and we are partnering with Welcome Pittsburgh to identify better ways to reach non-English speaking customers.

PGH2O Cares also contacts customers by phone and works one-on-one with them to explain the benefits of the program and can now enroll customers in some of our programs on the spot.

Simplifying the enrollment process has made our assistance programs more appealing. Eligible customers are asked to report their income over the phone rather than providing proof of income and are recertified every two years rather than annually. When a customer’s enrollment in the Bill Discount Program is set to expire, we notify them by mail and will follow up with a phone call if they don’t respond. The first round of recertification letters are being mailed in October.

We have also taken greater advantage of our website and digital marketing to build awareness about these programs. The Customer Assistance Programs are prominently displayed in two places on the homepage of www.pgh2o.com, and we implemented a Google AdWords campaign to build awareness and drive web traffic to the customer assistance page on our website. This has resulted in more than 10,000 page views since launching the campaign in March. We will soon offer a webform that allows customers to enroll in the Bill Discount Program online.

“Proactive outreach and simplifying enrollment are two distinct improvements that PWSA has made to grow our customer assistance programs,” stated Julie Quigley, Director of Customer Service for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority. “Customers are not always comfortable asking for assistance. We have gone the extra mile to reach out to our customers to offer a streamlined enrollment process. The PGH2O Cares team has demonstrated success through their efforts in this, their inaugural year.”

For more information about our customer assistance programs or to learn if you are eligible, please visit www.pgh2o.com/cap or contact PGH2O Cares by calling (412) 255-2423 x3107 or emailing cares@pgh2o.com.