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Rising arrears and disconnections put affordability at center of DC Water oversight hearing
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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 disconnections (single‑household meters) versus multifamily disconnects: about 6,300 residential disconnections in 2024 versus far fewer multifamily disconnects over the same period. Council members and advocates flagged the inequity of turning off a single‑family customer while many master‑metered multifamily accounts can accumulate large unpaid balances that affect many residents.
DC Water’s response and programs: The authority described four tiers of its Customer Assistance Program (CAP), saying the newest tier (“CAP Plus”) launched Oct. 1 and had enrolled more than 1,000 customers by the hearing. DC Water said it has also introduced a “payment‑plan incentive” pilot: customers who enroll and make on‑time payments can receive a credit that is applied to arrears (a 40% matching credit applied periodically under the program). DC Water reported $5.2 million in assistance paid to 4,985 customers through DC Water Cares programs in the previous year and about $112,000 raised through the Splash fund to assist more than 300 customers.
Multifamily complication: Committee questioning underscored a structural challenge: many rental buildings are master‑metered, so individual tenants who pay rent and water‑included rent may nonetheless have the building’s account turn delinquent. Witnesses and council members asked whether the Office of the Attorney General and the council could develop more enforcement options for landlords who collect rent that includes bundled utilities but fail to pay DC Water. DC Water said it is developing more proactive notification to tenants in affected buildings and exploring legislative tools with council offices to reduce unfair outcomes. The authority said it will give advance notice to council offices before any multifamily disconnection.
Why it matters: Large arrears change who pays for the system — when some customers do not pay, costs can flow to other ratepayers. The committee signalled that disconnect policy, landlord accountability and expanded, accessible assistance programs are immediate priorities.
Ending: Council members asked DC Water to provide ward‑level arrears and repeated‑offender landlord data for follow‑up and signalled willingness to work on targeted appropriations and legislative fixes to reduce inequitable impacts on tenants.
