Data Sources

Initial Report: Best Practices By Other Utility Companies

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has negatively impacted City of Seattle residents and local communities, and thus many residents have been struggling with their utility bill payments. To assist Seattle City Light (SCL) in refining existing assistance programs and developing new programs, the UW MSIM team conducted a “best practices” review of select U.S. municipal-owned utility companies and/or city governments. The team identified four entities that are comparable to SCL: Austin Energy, the City of San Antonio and CPS Energy, San Francisco Water Power Sewer, and the City of Boston / Eversource Energy.

Data Sources

Primary Data Provided By the Seattle City Lights

SCL internal arrears data

Recipient of low-income or emergency assistance

Census block and tract-level Assessors’ data for Seattle

Demographic Data

American Community Survey (ACS) demographic data

Racial and Social Equity Composite Index

Tableau built-in demographic data

Census data

2010 & 2020 Seattle Geographic Data (shapefile)