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WES proposes expanded income‑qualified discount, PGE pilot to reach renters
Summary
WES finance manager Erin Blue proposed rebranding the utility assistance program to an income‑qualified discount, capping rate-funded support at 0.5% of rate revenues (about $280,000) and piloting a one‑year agreement with Portland General Electric to reach renters not directly billed by WES.
Erin Blue, WES finance manager, told the Milwaukie committee WES is revising its utility assistance program to improve access and enrollment. Blue said the current income‑qualified bill discount (IQBD) is a 50% wastewater discount with about 650 enrollments; current cost at that level is roughly $160,000 per year. “650 households translates less than into less than 1% enrollment for us,” she said, noting underutilization and an estimated 6–12% of households likely qualify.
To expand reach while limiting rate impacts, WES staff proposed several changes: rebrand to an income‑qualified discount, add emergency/crisis bill assistance and late‑fee waivers, extend enrollment periods to two years to reduce administrative burden, and implement online applications and expanded outreach. Blue proposed capping rate‑funded program support at 0.5% of budgeted rate revenues (about $280,000) and adding non‑rate revenues such as late fees (about $150,000) to reach an estimated $430,000 annually. To stretch funds the district proposed revising the discount from 50% to 40% to extend assistance to roughly 300 additional households.
A centerpiece of WES’s plan is a one‑year pilot with Portland General Electric (PGE) to reach renters and multifamily occupants who aren’t directly billed by WES. Blue explained PGE would provide addresses of customers in its discount program so WES can mail outreach and invite applications; if a renter applies, WES would provide PGE the discount amount and PGE would reflect the discount on the electricity bill. Blue described the pilot as limited to unincorporated areas for now and said WES will evaluate administrative burden after the year.
Committee members and staff discussed technical and legal hurdles: inconsistent intergovernmental agreement (IGA) language with city partners, confidentiality and data‑sharing limits, and the need to amend the West–Milwaukie IGA by October to permit pass‑through of discounts. Blue asked the committee for direction on options to explore for Milwaukie prior to the 2027 enrollment cycle; members supported exploring auto‑enrollment via categorical eligibility and running cost/impact models so any expansion would not unduly raise rates for other customers.
