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The City of Seattle
Ordinance
Council Bill
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An ordinance relating to the Utility Discount Program; amending the income threshold for the utility discount program for water, wastewater, drainage, solid waste, and electric utility services; and amending Sections 21.49.040 and 21.76.030 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
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Recitals:
The Utility Discount Program (UDP) is one of The City of Seattle's (City's) largest and most popular affordability programs.
The program has helped people in need of economic assistance since 1975.
Through the UDP, eligible households can receive a 60 percent discount on their Seattle City Light bills and a 50 percent discount on their Seattle Public Utilities bills.
The UDP has been identified as a key piece of the City's Anti-Displacement Action Plan, the City's strategy for preventing and reducing displacement as the city grows.
Washington's Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), signed into law in 2019, requires electric utilities to demonstrate progress toward making energy assistance funds available to low-income households, defined as household incomes that do not exceed 80 percent of the area median income.
The City's UDP is currently only available to people with incomes that do not exceed 70 percent of the state median income.
Using Seattle's area median income, which is much higher than Washington's state median income, would better align with CETA's definition of low income and with CETA's intent to make discounts more available for energy assistance.
The UDP currently uses the same income eligibility threshold for both Seattle City Light and Seattle Public Utilities, and the City wishes to maintain consistent eligibility thresholds going forward.
The Council envisions this eligibility threshold adjustment as the first step of a three-step process to expand UDP eligibility to households with incomes up to 80 percent o...
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