If You Need Help With Your Electric Bill |
By Kari Johnson on December 1, 2011
.jpg.aspx) When you’re in debt, or even at risk of falling into debt, other bills become even more difficult to pay. This tends to became a cycle where you use money you don’t have to pay a bill you can’t afford to pay, but you also can’t afford not to pay, so that you wind up owing more money you can’t pay in the end. Specific bills can fall by the wayside. But if you need help with paying your electricity bill, there are things you might want to try.
If you have trouble paying the entire bill, you might want to call your electric company and see if you can set up a payment plan. This may be especially useful in the winter, when your electricity bill is likely to be higher. Some companies will allow you to set up a plan where you pay less during the winter months and they add what you did not pay then to your summer payments, when you generally use less power. This is a special payment arrangement, and it is useful if you need temporary relief.
If you still need help paying your electric bill, there are a few programs you probably want to look into. There is the LIEAP (Low Income Energy Assistance Program) for one, which is federally funded. It is a program that can provide a one-time payment to pay the electric bill of certain qualifying households. Certain households have some priority in approval, such as ones where everyone is above sixty years old or someone is disabled. Other people can still qualify, so long as they pass an income test and one person in the home meets an eligibility requirement with their residence.
There are also programs for general and emergency assistance. Qualifying for general assistance usually requires that your income is below a certain limit, while emergency assistance can help if you are in danger of having your electricity shut off and you have children. These applications are usually available at City Hall.
If you need help that these government programs cannot provide, you might want to look into local charities, whether nonprofit or faith based organizations. Be sure you look into every possibility if you are having trouble paying your electric bill. There should be a program that can help you in the case of an emergency.
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