Texas utility solicits donations to help households through winter
Breanne Deppisch
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A utilities provider in Austin, Texas, is asking for public donations to help pay its customer power bills this winter, an effort to help ease soaring power costs that have touched off a growing affordability crisis.
The City of Austin Utilities is calling on individuals and businesses to donate to its “Gift of Comfort” program on Tuesday, Nov. 29, as part of the annual Giving Tuesday charity push.
The utility company is also accepting donations directly to its Customer Assistance Program, or CAP, which helps households struggling to pay their power bills.
“[Customers] often ask how they can help others in the community,” said Elaine Veselka, vice president of customer account management at City of Austin Utilities. “Our Gift of Comfort program is the perfect opportunity to donate funds to assist with utility bill payments, during the holiday season or any time of the year.”
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Since the start of October, CAP has provided nearly $400,000 in utility bill assistance to more than 1,200 consumers in Austin.
The push for donations comes as the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that people will pay up to 28% more to keep their homes warm this winter.
The increase is due to soaring costs of natural gas and home heating oil, as well as colder winter weather, EIA said in its latest winter fuel outlook.
Higher natural gas costs have also caused heating bills to spike.
According to the EIA, U.S. households are expected to pay around $1,359 per household for electricity this winter — a 10% increase from last year.
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And according to a recent analysis from online loan provider LendingTree, Texas had the highest percentage of U.S. households (44%) that said they skipped out on or reduced expenses over the past year to pay their energy bills.