PA Offers Help to Residents Who Can't Pay Winter Heating Costs

Are you struggling to figure out how you can lower your energy bills even though you’re starting to need to heat up your home for the winter? Many Pennsylvania residents find that their winter energy costs are nearly impossible to pay regardless of what they try to do to decrease energy waste in the home. Those residents should be aware that there are several different federal and state programs available to them to help reduce the cost of their energy bills and even to pay bills that they’re having trouble getting paid.

Some of the programs that are available to Pennsylvania residents include:

• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This is a federally funded program that helps low income PA residents pay their home energy bills. It covers ongoing winter heating costs as well as emergency heating situations that require additional funds.


• Low-Income Usage Reduction Program (LIURP). This interesting Pennsylvania program aids low-income customers in actually reducing the amount of electricity or natural gas used in the home. What this program does is it pays for the installation of energy-saving devices in the home. This waste reduction naturally lowers the total cost of energy bills.


• Customer Assistance Program (CAP). Each utility company in Pennsylvania has a CAP program designed to lower the monthly bill for customers in need. The company works with the customer to figure out what the individual can reasonably pay. The program may also delete amounts that are overdue and cannot be paid.


• Hardship Funds. These are designed to provide customers with assistance in paying their energy bills when their other resources have run out. These funds may be paid directly to the energy company or provided as cash assistance to energy customers who need help paying their bills.


• Customer Assistance Referral and Evaluation Program (CARES). This is a program that customers with special needs should look into since it can help them find the right support to pay their utility bills. Special needs include everything from medical emergencies to unemployment.


• Budget Billing. Pennsylvania customers have the right to choose "budget billing" at any time of the year. What this means is that the electricity bill will be the same price every month of the year (based on the customer’s average energy use throughout the year). This same-bill option makes it easier to budget to pay energy bills.

Customers who are interested in lowering their PA energy bill through these various energy assistance programs can contact the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to learn more.