LIHEAP Action Month used to highlight Sept. 1 opening of new application season, along with ComEd bill-assistance programs available to customers

August is Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Action Month and ComEd encourages income-eligible customers to be ready to apply for utility-bill assistance when the new program year begins Sept. 1. For fiscal year 2022, $8.3 billion in LIHEAP funding was provided by the federal government – the most ever to help Americans meet their energy needs.

“We understand individuals and businesses alike still face economic challenges from the pandemic, while also dealing with the negative impacts of the rising prices for everyday products and services due to inflation,” said Melissa Washington, ComEd's chief customer officer and senior vice president of customer operations. “We encourage our customers to take action immediately if they need help paying their energy bills, as ComEd stands ready to connect customers in need with a variety of energy-assistance options, including LIHEAP.”

In Illinois, LIHEAP provides a one-time grant, per program year, with no payback required, based on a household's income and size. A customer's annual household income cannot exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines which, for a family of four, is $4,625 a month. Homeowners, renters and subsidized housing tenants are eligible to apply for assistance. Customers do not have to be behind on their bills to receive a grant. Residents of Cook County can call the LIHEAP hotline at 800-571-2332. Residents outside Cook County can call 877-411-9276.

ComEd works closely with its Community Action Agencies to connect customers to grants and programs like LIHEAP and ComEd’s Supplemental Arrearage Reduction Program (SARP), which is available to ComEd residential customers who qualified to receive energy-assistance benefits from LIHEAP. In 2021 alone, ComEd helped connect more than 225,000 eligible customers to more than $146 million in energy assistance.

“Making sure residents have access to services when they need it is a top priority,” said Latoya Butler, Director of Energy Services for the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, Inc. (CEDA), one of the agencies who administer LIHEAP and other utility assistance programs in Cook County.

Any customer experiencing difficulty paying their electric bill can learn more about energy-assistance options, including how to apply, at ComEd.com/PaymentAssistance.

Additional energy-assistance options

In addition to state and federal grants, ComEd offers residential customers the following bill-assistance options. Visit ComEd.com/Eligibility for eligibility guidelines and information on how to apply.

• A flexible deferred payment arrangement of up to 12 months for eligible residential customers with a past-due balance. Make a down payment on the amount owed, and the balance is paid through installments in addition to your regular monthly bill.
• Budget billing, which provides a predictable monthly payment based on your electricity usage from the last 12 months.
• Flexible payment options like extensions on a customer’s due date by 21 calendar days.
• High-usage alerts, which enable customers to receive alerts when their usage is trending higher than normal to help manage overall energy use, and energy-management tips to help customers manage energy use to save money now and on future energy bills.
• Energy-efficiency offerings, including services and incentives designed for income-eligible residential customers, that can help reduce energy use now and in the long term.

To streamline access to bill-assistance options and programs, ComEd also offers its Smart Assistance Manager (SAM), an online self-service tool that can match customers with the payment-assistance programs and energy-efficiency offerings that can help customers manage their electric bills.

Support options are generated based on each customer’s household information, such as energy usage and billing history. Customers who create an online account with ComEd through the “My Account” tool can log in while using SAM to get even more personalized, targeted results.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers – the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit ComEd.com and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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