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Managing Your Utility Bills

You can get help with your energy costs:

FEDERAL AND STATE PROGRAMS

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

LIHEAP can provide you with two kinds of financial assistance if you qualify for help: Cash grants and Crisis grants. Cash grants can help you pay for energy to heat your home or apartment in the winter. Crisis grants can help you deal with emergencies related to weather or energy supply problems.

LIHEAP can also provide emergency heating system repair and conservation assistance. LIHEAP is a federally funded program administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW).

Eligible families can receive financial assistance from any or all of LIHEAP’s components to help heat their residence. If you have questions about LIHEAP, you can contact PULP, DPW, your local county assistance office, or your utility company. For comprehensive information about LIHEAP, refer to PULP’s Annual Advocates Manual, which will be updated in November 2011. See also the News & Recent Developments section of this website.

Some highlights of the Program for 2011-2012 follow. (Please note that the minimum Cash benefit, the maximum Crisis benefit, and the income eligibility limit have all changed from last year.)

  • Income eligibility for the 2011-2012 program year is set at 150% of the current Federal Poverty Income Guidelines.  Click here to see the guidelines.
  • The Cash Grant component  runs from November 1, 2011 – March 30, 2012.
    • The minimum Cash Grant benefit is $100.
    • The maximum Cash Grant benefit is $1,000.
    • The Cash Grant amount is determined by a formula which considers household income, size, primary heating source and geographic location. Click here to determine the Cash Grant amount for which your household may be eligible.
    • An eligible household receives only one Cash Grant during the program year. If additional funds are available, a supplemental LIHEAP grant may be issued to Cash Grant households.
    • A Cash Grant will be applied to the main heating source; it may be applied to a secondary heating source only if needed to run the main heating source (e.g., electricity to run an oil furnace).
    • Renters who pay for heat indirectly for their residence as an undesignated part of rent will receive 50% of the LIHEAP Cash benefit for which they would otherwise qualify.
  • The Crisis Exception component will run from November 1, 2011 – January 2, 2012.
    • Crisis Exception payments may be issued to households without heat when the LIHEAP Cash component opens.
    • A household must be authorized for a Cash grant that is insufficient to restore heat.
    • The main or second heating source for the household must be completely shut off, or the household must be completely without their main heating fuel;

OR

A household must have almost run out of their supply of main heating fuel (coal, fuel oil, kerosene, propane, wood, etc.).

  • The Crisis Grant component will run from January 3, 2012 – March 30, 2012.
    • The minimum Crisis benefit is $25.
    • The maximum Crisis benefit is $300.
    • The amount of a Crisis Grant is the amount needed to resolve the home-heating emergency, subject to the minimum and maximum benefit amounts.
    • The household will be ineligible for a Crisis benefit if the benefit does not, when combined with other household resources, resolve the heating emergency.
    • The Crisis Grant can be issued to a secondary heating source only when the secondary fuel is needed to run the main source of heat (for example, electricity to run an oil furnace).
  • Households may be eligible to apply for and receive a second Crisis payment, subject to the maximum and minimum Crisis amounts.
    • The second Crisis Grant may be issued to households who previously received a Crisis Exception payment or Crisis Grant and are experiencing another home heating emergency. The combined amount of both Crisis Grants cannot be greater than $300. The second grant, like the first, must be accepted by the fuel vendor or utility as sufficient to resolve the crisis.

Weatherization Assistance Program

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) can help low-income families reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient. If you are eligible for the program, some of the services you might receive include installation of insulation, heating system replacements, and education on how to reduce energy waste.

The Weatherization Assistance Program is funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) but run by the individual states. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) administers the program. You can learn more about Weatherization Assistance through the DOE or DCED.

The Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 injects into the WAP program an unprecedented level of funding: $252.8 million for use over a three-year period. As a result, the average WAP expenditure per home will be $6,500, which is significantly higher than the usual program average expenditure of $2,800 per home. With ARRA funding, WAP estimates it can serve 29,700 households over the next two to three years and create nearly 1,000 new jobs in the Commonwealth.

Winter Shut-off Protection

As a utility customer, you are responsible for paying your bills and should make every effort to do so. However, if you are unable to pay your bill, there are protections from termination for qualified low-income families during the winter moratorium: December 1 – March 31. Your household income must be at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines. (Alternate rules, explained below, apply if you are a customer of PGW – Philadelphia Gas Works.) To see if you are in the protected income category, click here. It is a good idea to alert your utility company if you are within these guidelines. If you receive a termination notice and you are within the income guidelines, you should notify your utility company immediately.

If you are a customer of PGW, your utility service may not be terminated during the winter months if your income level falls below 150% of the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines. If your income is between 150% and 250% of the guidelines, you will not be shut-off in the winter if the household includes anyone 65 years of age or older or 12 years of age or younger; or if you have obtained a medical certification; or if you have paid PGW an amount equal to at least 15% of your monthly household income for each of the last two months.

UTILITY PROGRAMS

Most large Pennsylvania utility companies are required by law to have programs to help low-income customers keep their utility service. There are several different kinds of programs available to help you. Your utility company may offer one or more of these programs.

These programs may help you pay your utility bills or lower the amount of energy you use!

A general overview of the types of programs utility companies may offer is found below. For a specific description of your utility company’s programs, click here.

Budget Billing

Budget Billing programs are available to everyone at no cost. The goal of Budget Billing is to even out your monthly utility bills so that you don’t have very high bills in one season (for instance, to heat your home in winter), and then very low bills in another season (for instance, in spring, when you need neither heating nor air conditioning).

With Budget Billing, the utility company takes your total annual utility costs and divides that total evenly across all twelve months of the year, so that you make regular payments each month. This can help you plan your budget with greater accuracy, because your utility payments won’t change month to month. The utility company can adjust the amount of your monthly payments up to four times a year to compensate for higher or lower actual usage in your home.

Customer Assistance Program (CAP)

If you are having trouble paying your utilities, CAP can lower your monthly utility bills. Your income situation will be evaluated and, if you qualify, CAP will calculate your bills based on a percentage of your income or on a discounted rate so that your monthly payments will be lowered.

Some CAPs also include the forgiveness of outstanding past debts. In order to continue receiving CAP benefits, you need to make full and timely payment of ongoing CAP bills.

Customer Assistance and Referral Evaluation Services Program (CARES)

CARES can help you by linking you up with local social service agencies and assistance programs. These local resources will then work with you to address the underlying problems that are preventing you from making prompt payment of utility bills.

Low Income Usage Reduction Program (LIURP)

LIURPs help you reduce the amount of energy you use, thereby reducing your overall energy bills. If you qualify, you will receive an energy audit to determine your household’s energy use. You may then receive the installation of free energy conservation measures to help reduce your household’s energy consumption, with the goal of reducing your monthly energy bill.

Hardship Funds

Hardship Funds can provide you with cash assistance if you need help paying your utility bill or if you still have a critical need for assistance after other resources have been exhausted. Hardship Fund programs make cash payments directly to your utility company.

Telephone Assistance Programs for Local Calling

Three programs are available statewide to help you with telephone service if you qualify: Lifeline, Link-Up, and Toll Limitation Service (TLS). Verizon also has an emergency assistance program, known as UTAP, if you are threatened with loss of basic phone service. UTAP will provide a grant to assist you in maintaining your basic telephone service.

Lifeline reduces your monthly charges for basic telephone service. Link-Up reduces your cost to initiate new telephone service. Toll Limitation Service allows you to subscribe to toll blocking or toll control at no cost. In Pennsylvania, there are two Lifeline programs: Lifeline and Lifeline 135.

One of two ways will be used to find out if you are eligible for telephone assistance: income-based (your income is at or below 100% or 135% of the Federal Poverty Income Guidelines) or program-based (you are in an assistance program such as Public Housing/Section 8, Medicaid, General Assistance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).

The specific benefits which are available and the levels of assistance differ from company to company. Contact your phone company directly or visit http://www.lifelinesupport.org/ for more detailed information.

Lifeline and Link Up program benefits may also be available through some wireless service providers; however these programs can be applied to only one wireless OR one landline phone per household. Again, contact your phone company or wireless service provider for details.