Chad Quinn

With inflation still on the rise, Pennsylvanians are watching every dollar. There is an often overlooked option I’d like to share that could help stretch residents’ budgets by saving money on their utility bills.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LIHEAP enrollment opened Oct. 1. It’s a timely reminder that water and wastewater bill assistance is available to eligible Pennsylvania American Water customers through the company’s recently expanded H2O Help to Others program.

More than 115,000 Pennsylvania households — including over 5,200 water and nearly 4,000 wastewater customers in Butler County — may qualify for monthly bill discounts, annual grants and arrearage forgiveness. This is meaningful relief that can help stretch every dollar.

The expanded program means that customers may now receive discounts of between 30% and 90% of their monthly water and/or wastewater bills. Additionally, Pennsylvania American Water increased the income eligibility for its H2O Help to Others grants, which provide up to $500 annually per household for water and wastewater service 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, less than 18% of eligible customers statewide are enrolled in H2O Help to Others program grants and/or bill discounts.

We encourage customers to see if they qualify for any of these programs and to 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.

We encourage eligible customers to consider this brief investment of your time when enrolling in LIHEAP this fall, as it could lead to substantial savings on your utility bills all year.

Chad Quinn has served as CEO of the Dollar Energy Fund since 2013.