The Allegheny County Sanitary Authority’s (ALCOSAN) Board of Directors today approved a new five-year rate structure that has increases of 7% from 2022-2026. The board chose to set rates for a five-year period because it allows residents, businesses and municipalities that are part of the ALCOSAN system to plan their budgets for the long term without the prospect of surprise increases.
These increases will be used by ALCOSAN – a fully ratepayer funded authority – to finance the Clean Water Plan activities, which is the Authority’s blueprint for removing 7 billion gallons of overflows from our waterways, thereby cleaning up one of our region’s most valuable assets. These infrastructure projects include funding our GROW program, plant expansion, regionalization, and our new regional tunnel system.
Beginning in January 2022, the average residential customer who uses 12,000 gallons of water per quarter will pay $549 a year in ALCOSAN charges, an increase of $36 annually or $3 a month. In 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, rates will increase 7% each year.
ALCOSAN’s charges do not include the amount added by each municipality to maintain local infrastructure.
ALCOSAN’s rate is computed two ways, the per-gallon rate and the customer service charge. In 2022, the per-gallon rate will increase to $9.73 per 1,000 gallons. The quarterly customer service charge will be $20.45 in 2022.
“We fully realize that raising rates is never a popular or easy thing to do,” said Arletta Scott Williams, ALCOSAN’s Executive Director. “These increases are much lower than we originally anticipated and will allow us to continue funding the important Clean Water Plan projects.
“Our employees and Board of Directors have done an amazing job keeping costs down as much as possible, while also positioning the Authority in an advantageous situation where we can borrow money at much lower rates.”
Low-income homeowners in the ALCOSAN territory can reduce their bills by applying to the Authority’s Clean Water Assistance Fund. The fund has made available $1 million to help low-income families and individuals pay their wastewater treatment bills. Details of the application process are available at Dollar Energy Fund, at dollarenergy.org.
###
ALCOSAN is one of the region’s premiere environmental and public health organizations, treating wastewater for 83 Allegheny County communities, including the City of Pittsburgh. The authority enhances the community’s quality of life and safety by working to protect drinking water, rivers and streams, and making the Pittsburgh region a great place to live, work and play. ALCOSAN’s 59-acre treatment plant processes up to 250 million gallons of wastewater daily and is one of the largest such facilities in the Ohio River Valley.