(The Center Square) – Several utility companies in Central Florida offer their customers access to financial assistance that can range from $100 to $1,000 per year.
The assistance is designed for those customers who are facing hardships and are unable to pay their bills. Customers must meet the eligibility requirements of the program associated with their utility provider, including providing a loss of income or proof that they have been struggling with some other expense like medical bills.
Director of Corporate Communications at Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) Michelle Lynch told The Center Square that OUC has a long history of serving the community and helping customers keep their utilities running.
“With prices rising for so many products and services, we know our customers are feeling the strain. As Orlando’s hometown utility for nearly a century, we’re here to help. Since 1994, we’ve offered Project CARE, a program that assists families who are facing hardship to pay their utility bills when they need it the most,” Lynch said.
Project CARE is funded by OUC employees and customers, and is administered through the Heart of Florida United Way, a non-profit community assistance agency.
In 2020, Heart of Florida United Way administered up to $500 to OUC customers, totaling $2.6 million to 14,482 households. In the pre-pandemic year of 2019, only 82 homes needed assistance, which totaled $100,000.
Heart of Florida United Way also offers assistance programs to customers of Duke Energy, City of Winter Park Utilities, and Lake Apopka Natural Gas District (LANGD).
Leesburg Electric Department has a similar program that grants $100 to customers facing hardship each year through the company’s Citizen Utility Relief Effort (CURE). The program has been running since 1991, and was designed to help customers who found themselves unemployed or who had serious injuries and/or illnesses.
The average price per kilowatt hour (kWh) is around 13 cents in Florida, with Duke Energy being one of the highest monthly bills, averaging over 14 cents per kWh. However, the cost remains lower than the national average of 14.46 cents, but with Florida using natural gas to produce 75.08% of the state’s electricity, the cost is expected to rise as gas supplies become scarcer.
In 2002, energy in Florida was priced at 8.55 cents per kWh, reaching an average of 13 cents by 2013, according to Ballotpedia. Energy prices are already earmarked to increase starting in January 2023, while winter storms are dropping temperatures in Florida, and as a result, customers will be turning on their heat this winter.
The U.S Energy Information Administration has already warned of shortages in natural gas and oil that will push consumer prices up further for consumers.
“Many households across the United States are likely to spend more on energy in the winter of 2022–23 compared with recent winters,” the USEIA website states. “Higher forecast energy expenditures are the result of higher fuel prices, combined with higher heating demand because of a forecast of slightly colder weather than last winter.”
