Cold Weather Raises Utility Needs

As the arctic winter stint is freezing a vast majority of states, many people will be doing without heat. With the high cost of living people on fixed incomes are likely to be affected. The elderly, homeless, and misfortunate included. Shelters filled to capacity don't have room to house everyone when extreme cold hits.

For those on low or fixed incomes utility companies claim to have a program where qualified applicants can receive aid on their bills or have their bills paid for up to so many months, thanks to the kind people who donate a dollar every month to help fund the program. If the funds run out qualified applicants will be turned away and the funds usually do run out.

Tyra Bank's talk show did an episode about homeless people. It enlightened me as to where some of the donations set aside for people who need help paying utility bills is going. Lower My Bills gave away twenty four thousand dollars to homeless families. Actually it was two homeless families. Each family received twelve thousand dollars. I'm not saying it was wrong to give them the money. They needed it, but if all the donated money is going to a few families then there will never be enough to go around. They could have given twenty-four families a thousand dollars apiece. They could have helped twenty-two more families, but they chose not to.

It used to be you were limited in choice of electric and gas companies. Now as more utility companies are springing up you can be choosy. The savings in any company are comparably the same. This is because the Public Service Commission or the Public Utility Commission regulates them.

The commissions will insure no price gouging happens. They decide what is fair for the companies to charge and be able to make a profit within reason. When a rate increase is expected the utility company must notify you in advance. If you feel the rate increase is unjustified you can testify in front of the commissions against it. If you did your research and present paperwork armed with figures and facts to support why you feel an increase is unjust the commission might be persuaded to deny or lower the impending spike.