By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
A number of local agencies are offering assistance to people who can’t fully pay their energy bills this winter, but the available funds are limited and rely heavily upon public-private partnerships to sustain them.
In addition, electric utilities are finding ways to help their customers stay current on their bills, accruing benefits to the consumers and the providers.
The City of Washington has spearheaded a committee made up of aid-agency workers and local utilities officials who are concerned about growing electricity balances, said Heidi Smith, spokeswoman for Tideland Electric Membership Corp.
Reportedly, one facet of the committee’s activation was a response to customers’ complaints about high electricity bills.
At one time, pledges of $25 to $50 were enough to alleviate energy-bill crises for individuals, Smith said.
“Now the amounts are just unbelievable,” she said. “We’ve got to find a way to reduce the bills.”
The committee has reached the conclusion that all of its participating agencies need to figure out how to make the transition from helping people cover their energy costs to making repairs with an eye toward increased energy efficiency in the home, she said.
“It’s been pretty fruitful to have everybody talking,” Smith stated.
The city-run Washington Electric Utilities is continuing its practice of providing extensions and payment plans to customers who have trouble paying their utility bills, said Andrea McClain, revenue collections supervisor.
Extensions are limited to four-per-year, McClain advised.
“The sooner you let us know, the more able we’re going to be to help you,” she said.
She continued by saying, “We don’t like having to go and have people cut off any more than they like being cut off.”
The utilities department is seeing more requests for extensions of late, she confirmed.
“There does seem to be a pretty significant increase,” McClain acknowledged.
The city also has a budget-billing program that runs on a 12-month cycle, according to McClain. This program, based on one year of a customer’s average electricity usage, allows the power purchaser to be billed a set monthly amount and pay a balance or enjoy a credit at the end of the year.
In addition, the city performs energy audits to determine sources of heating or cooling loss, McClain noted.
The city also has partnered with the nonprofit Martin Community Action, which is administering a home-weatherization program using federal stimulus funds, she said.
Income qualifications are among the stipulations that could lead to solutions like insulation or weather stripping for an approved homeowner, McClain said.
Tideland also offers energy audits. And, like the city, Tideland lets its consumers help the less fortunate.
Tideland has an energy-assistance fund to which its customers may contribute. Called Operation Roundup, voluntary participants in Tideland’s program see their bill rounded up to the nearest dollar, with the extra money going into the fund.
Money from the fund is used to help out utility customers who have problems keeping up with their bills.
On average, Operation Roundup contributors each give $6 a year, Smith said. Around 2,500 of Tideland’s approximately 19,000 members take part in the program, she shared.
“Our assistance is limited to $100 a month, and no more than $300 a year,” Smith said.
She added, “We’re seeing people that have never before asked for help.”
The city’s WEU has a similar charitable program under which people can use the roundup method, make direct contributions to an emergency fund or add a certain amount to their monthly bills.
Officials said these public-private methods are especially essential now for two reasons: the battered economy and limited public funds.
The Beaufort County Department of Social Services has a crisis-intervention program to help people with heating costs, but that program is practically out of money.
“We’ve got about $91,” said Sylvia King, program manager for income maintenance.
Other money allocated for the program has been spent, and DSS is awaiting a state announcement about additional funds, related Sonya Toman, social services director.
“We don’t have anything official,” Toman said, pledging to pass on news of additional funds as soon as it’s released by the state.
Among the private entities helping with the utilities problem is the St. Vincent De Paul Society of Mother of Mercy Catholic Church in Washington.
“We essentially work with the poor, and one of the needs, obviously, of folks in need are utility payments,” said Pat Brown, vice president.
The society, which helps with everything from food to medicines, reviews an applicant’s financial eligibility and obtains verification of public assistance from DSS, Brown said.
The society sees more than 100 clients per month, he said.
“It used to be less than 100 a month,” Brown stated.
For more information about getting help with electricity bills, contact your local electricity provider.