Affordability Starts with Better Data: The Affordability Pressure Utilities Can’t Ignore
The affordability pressure hiding across the U.S. utility industry, and what to do about it.
With the first U.S. customer affordability index live and the 2026 affordability landscape coming into focus, a clearer picture of customer pressure is emerging. While many utilities still benchmark themselves on average rates, the underlying trends tell a different story:
- Moderate-rate utilities in high-poverty regions are carrying the heaviest affordability pressure
- Customer arrears are climbing even at utilities with rates below the national average
- The customers most at risk are often invisible to traditional rate-based reporting
In this webinar, BlastPoint and Tierra Resource Consultants will walk through how utilities can move from affordability insight to targeted relief, using PressurePoint to identify where pressure is concentrated and Tierra’s Rate Relief Index to design programs that actually reach the customers who need them most.
We’ll be joined by Elizabeth Paulson, Customer Assistance Supervisor at Chesapeake Utilities Corporation and NEUAC board member, who brings 20+ years of frontline experience running customer assistance programs at investor-owned and municipal utilities.
Webinar Details
Date: May 7, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Presenters: Tomer Borenstein (BlastPoint), Bill LeBlanc (Tierra), Elizabeth Paulson (Chesapeake Utilities)
In this webinar, you’ll discover:
- Where affordability pressure is actually concentrated in 2026 (and why average rates hide it)
- How to use PressurePoint to spot early indicators of customer financial stress and identify your most at-risk customers
- How Tierra’s Rate Relief Index and other programs translate those insights into targeted program design
- The end-to-end workflow: identify pressure, segment customers, design targeted programs, predict adoption, and deploy outreach
- Practical strategies to move from affordability insight to operational action
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