Access to clean water and sanitation services is one of the most basic needs to ensure the health of any community.
The costs of providing these services have steadily increased due to aging infrastructure, rising regulations, and the need for system reinvestment. When rates consistently rise at a pace that exceeds inflation and wage growth, affordability becomes a key concern. We can help you address the affordability of utility services with practical solutions and effective communication to stakeholders, ensuring the program's success.

Defining what is affordable
Affordability is commonly defined as the ability of individual customers to pay for services that are adequate to meet their basic needs, while maintaining the ability to pay for other essential costs. The key is that affordability must be evaluated at the individual customer level. Using the percentage of median household income as a proxy for affordability has its shortcomings. Several other metrics have emerged that focus on individual customers, account for essential non-utility costs, and concentrate on low-income customers, utilities’ most financially vulnerable customers. Raftelis understands the importance of selecting appropriate metrics for measuring affordability and for setting program-level policies. We are at the forefront of efforts to define and assess affordability, and are working with utility industry leaders to develop new metrics that help utilities establish effective programs to address their customers’ household affordability challenges. We utilize industry-leading techniques that combine unique customer billing data with census block-level demographic information to create a comprehensive evaluation of local affordability conditions. This analysis can be used for negotiation with regulators, development of assistance programs, and informed decision-making in utility management.
Identifying who is at risk
The first step in assessing customer affordability is to thoroughly understand the demographics and consumption characteristics of your customers. We achieve this by analyzing various datasets, such as census information and billing data, with the ultimate objective of identifying “at-risk” customer groups. Through this analysis, we can identify household income characteristics, consumption geocoded by census tract, and ultimately determine who your “at-risk” customers are.
Solutions that fit your needs
We can help you develop and implement an affordability program that addresses the critical needs within your community, while minimizing any administrative and cost impacts. We conduct a financial capability assessment at the utility level, enabling you to assess your ability to address growing capital investment needs. There are several ways to ensure customer affordability, including implementing bill assistance programs, water efficiency programs, or incorporating affordability programs directly into your rate structure.
Mitigating impacts to the utility
When considering affordability programs, it’s important to understand the impact proposed programs can have on your overall performance. We can help you quantify these impacts to ensure you aren’t taking on more than you can handle.

We move beyond broad averages by combining your specific billing data with granular census demographics to pinpoint precisely where affordability challenges exist. This data-driven approach allows us to identify "at-risk" populations with precision, ensuring that the solutions we design target those in need without compromising your utility’s financial sustainability.

Executive Vice President

Senior Vice President
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