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Rising arrears and disconnections put affordability at center of DC Water oversight hearing

2369465 · February 20, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Council members and community witnesses pressed DC Water on growing customer arrears, disconnection practices for multifamily buildings, and new or expanded assistance programs after arrears rose to roughly $36 million.

Council members used the performance oversight hearing to press DC Water on household affordability, arrearages and the authority’s customer assistance programs. DC Water officials reported arrearages totalling about $36 million and said roughly 55% of the arrears are tied to multifamily (master‑metered) accounts. Committee members and witnesses pressed the utility for clearer protection of tenants and for improvements in landlord accountability.

Background and numbers: DC Water officials told the committee customer arrearages have grown substantially since the pandemic. CFO Matthew Brown said the authority’s past‑due totals had been roughly $12 million pre‑pandemic and are now about $36 million. The authority also reported a recent rise in residential…

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