1 week Ago
By Chad Quinn With inflation still on the rise, Pennsylvanians are watching every dollar. Most of us look for savings at the grocery store or the gas pump. Recently, I was in the City of York to discuss another way residents can stretch their budgets: saving money on their utility bills.
For more than 40 years, Dollar Energy Fund has been serving Pennsylvanians by providing utility assistance grants and other services. Now we’re working with Pennsylvania American Water to get the word out that more than 5,000 York residents still can save money on their wastewater bills. That’s because Pennsylvania American Water customers may be eligible to participate in their H2O Help to Others assistance program , which provides a discount on wastewater bills – saving the average residential customer $40.
53 to $93.12 every month. That’s money that can be put toward groceries and other important household items.
Pennsylvania American has offered this assistance to customers for more than 30 years but has recently expanded program eligibility. The expanded program means that customers may now receive discounts of between 30% and 90% of their monthly wastewater bills. Pennsylvania American Water also increased the income eligibility for its H2O Help to Others wastewater grants, which provides up to $500 per household per year for eligible customers.
Pennsylvania American Water also created a new Arrearage Forgiveness Program, which forgives $25 of participating customers’ past-due balance when they make a current monthly bill payment in full, plus a $5 co-payment. For example, if a qualifying customer has a past-due balance of $240 and a monthly bill of $30 through the Arrearage Forgiveness Program, the customer would pay $35 each month for eight months to eliminate their past-due balance. These programs are administered by Dollar Energy Fund, the organization that I proudly lead with a mission to improve the quality of life for households experiencing hardships by providing utility assistance and other services that lead to self-sufficiency.
The money offered through these assistance programs can make a real difference for Pennsylvania families, but only if they take advantage of it. Right now, only 4% of eligible York customers are enrolled in H2O Help to Others programs. That means more than 5,000 in York alone are leaving money on the table.
We encourage customers to see if they qualify for any of these programs and share this information with friends and family who might benefit from the available assistance. To check your eligibility or to apply for Pennsylvania American Water’s H2O Help to Others grants and/or bill discounts, customers should contact Dollar Energy Fund at 1-888-282-6816 or dollarenergy.org .
This short investment of your time could result in a significant savings on your utility bill throughout the year. So take the time and see if you qualify today. Chad Quinn is CEO of Dollar Energy Fund, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization that administers utility assistance programs.
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