Pittsburgh Water launches debt forgiveness program to help families with rising costs

Pittsburgh Water is launching a new debt forgiveness program to help customers. It started at the beginning of the month and aims to help families balance their budgets.

The way the program works: if people pay their bills on time for two years straight, they will have their debt forgiven, taking a burden off their shoulders.

This program is available to customers living at 200% of the federal poverty level or lower. That's $66,000 for a family of four. Currently, 4,300 customers meet the threshold.

"So they were enrolled automatically on Sept. 1," Pittsburgh Water director of customer service Julie Mechling said.

During the 24-month period, customers can miss up to two of their current charges and still have a chance to catch up and remain in the program. More than that, they are out.  

"However, within that 24-month period, they can come back at any time and catch up on any of the missed current charge payments and still achieve the forgiveness of their old debt," Mechling said.

This program can be covered because it is fewer than 5% of customers; the other more than 95% help to subsidize this through their payments along with the people in the program. Other regulated gas and electric utilities already have programs like this. Pittsburgh Water was not governed by the Public Utilities Commission until 2018, so its program started later.

"There's help out there for people who are struggling. There are multiple opportunities for you to come to us and see what protections are available to you," Mechling said.

For more information, visit Pittsburgh Water's website.