Some residents in EPCOR’s Arizona water districts will soon see bigger discounts to their monthly bills due to three new programs to help customers who need low income assistance, veterans disabled during their military service and active-duty service members on deployment in service of the United States.

In April 2019, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) approved EPCOR’s request for three customer assistance programs for its Arizona water service areas:

*Low-income customers – $10 monthly credit

*Disabled American veterans – $10 monthly credit

*Deployed military service members – bill waived during temporary deployment

These programs are for eligible water customers in the Anthem, Agua Fria, Chaparral, Havasu, Mohave, North Mohave, Paradise Valley, Sun City, Sun City West, Tubac and Willow Valley service areas.

On Aug. 28, the ACC approved Plans of Administration (POA) for each of these programs, confirming the application and administration process and retroactively adjusting the programs back to July 1, 2019.

Customers in the low income and/or disabled veterans programs will see any retroactive credit and the new $10 monthly credit beginning with their October 2019 bills. Customers who have applied for and are eligible for the deployed service members program will see their bill waived retroactive to their application approval date.

EPCOR is also contributing $21,000 in extra funding to provide credits for customers who applied for and were eligible for these programs between the July 1, 2019 effective date and the ACC’s original April 1 approval of the programs.

When credits first appear on the October bill, some customers may see larger than expected credits or even a negative balance owing on their accounts because the credits have been accumulating while the POAs were waiting for approval. If there is a negative balance, the excess credit balance will carry over to the customer’s next bill.

Assistance programs are available on a first come, first served basis – for eligibility criteria and information on how to apply, visit epcor.com/assistance.

The Town of Fountain Hills is EPCOR’s Chaparral water district, and the company also operates water and wastewater services for the Verde Communities (Rio Verde and Tonto Verde) as well as the Trilogy community adjacent to the Verdes. This is the former jurisdiction of Rio Verde Utilities.