The Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority, which serves 40,000 customers in Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs, will resume shut-offs for nonpayment next month, following a pause due to a change in billing systems last year.
The authority started sending out late notices to customers with past due balances on May 1; it plans to resume shut-offs June 3, officials said in an interview last week.
The agency is in the process of setting up a customer assistance program to help low-income customers who owe money for past bills; it will be administered by Dollar Energy Fund.
Doug Komandt, the authority’s executive director, said WPWJA officials were hoping to have the assistance program up and running by June 1, but might not meet that deadline.
“I don't know if that's quite going to make it. So hopefully soon after that,” he said.
The agency can help people with payment plans to avoid shutoffs, said Amber Klein, special project manager for WPJWA.
Some residents and advocacy group Pittsburgh United have been pushing for an assistance program for the authority’s customers for years. The group said it is not happy the authority will be resuming shut-offs before an aid program is up and running.
“The current reality is that WPJWA has no assistance program in place and of the 16 municipalities that the water authority serves, many are classified as low-income with a high concentration of Black and brown residents,” said Gabby Gray, lead organizer of Pittsburgh United’s Our Water Campaign.
“WPJWA ending the shut-off moratorium without first making the customer assistance program available is unconscionable and customers deserve firm commitments from the Water Authority to act as quickly to support ratepayers in need as they are in denying service,” Gray said in an emailed statement.
Water utilities that are regulated by the state’s Public Utility Commission, such as PWSA and Pennsylvania American Water, already have assistance programs. PWSA has invested in staff and outreach in recent years to make sure customers know about the help that is available.
Municipal authorities, such as WPJWA, are not regulated by the PUC, and are not required to have assistance programs.
“I think [an assistance program is] a good idea, you know, for the area we have,” Komandt said. The authority serves a number of low-income communities and suburbs. “And, so, you know, that's why I've worked here to get it taken care of.”
