Utility costs keep going up every year, even at a time when most people’s incomes have stayed the same or fallen. If you and your family have had trouble paying the utility bill in Southern Colorado, you do not have shiver through the winter without heat or worry about the lights going out.
There are programs designed to help Colorado families with their utility bills.
LEAP
The Colorado Department of Human Services oversees the Low-income Energy Assistance Program. Low-income families can apply to their county offices to get help paying utility bills.
LEAP will not pay your entire utility bill, but it will help offset some of the expense. Families in Elbert, El Paso, Douglas, Fremont and Teller counties receive an average of between $296 in Douglas county and $544 in Elbert County to pay for their winter heating bills between Nov. 1 and April 30.
To apply for LEAP, you will need to submit an application to your county office. For more information about the program and instructions on applying for assistance, visit the LEAP website: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDHS-SelfSuff/CBON/1251580884665.
Energy Resource Center
The Energy Resource Center has been helping families in Elbert, El Paso, Douglas, Fremont and Teller counties stay safe and warm since 1979.
Instead of ongoing assistance with bills, the ERC provides permanent home improvements that will make your house more energy efficient and bring down your utility bills by helping you to use less energy.
We start the process with an energy audit that allows us to identify ways we can improve your house and reduce energy waste.
If you’re income-qualified, ERC can do the energy audit and make most of the necessary improvements with no charge to you.
Anyone who qualified for LEAP will automatically qualify for help from ERC. However, Colorado Springs Utilities customers with incomes up to 250 percent of federal poverty guidelines can also qualify for ERC assistance through the utility company’s Home Efficiency Assistance Program – HEAP.
If you need help paying your utility bills, contact the Energy Resource Center. We are happy to answer questions, direct you toward organizations that can help and explain our program to you.