Kyle Kellams: The first weeks of our winter may have been warmer than usual, but nobody is thinking we will get to late March without a need to heat our homes, and with that need can often come much higher heating bills. The federal program LIHEAP, Low Income Energy Assistance Program, is again available.
Amy Schlesing, region communications manager for SWEPCO Fayetteville District, says the program is designed to make sure people can stay warm.
Amy Schlesing: This program has helped more than 70,000 households across Arkansas just in the last year alone. At SWEPCO, we encourage our customers. We understand that when bad weather strikes and those heating bills spike with it, that it can really hurt a budget and household struggle. That’s why we have several programs that we offer, including LIHEAP, and LIHEAP is based on household and income. We have an eligibility tool on our website that any of our customers can go to swepco.com to see if they’re eligible. And then there’s a portal there that they can go in and apply as well.
But the application period is limited, Kyle. So that’s why we want to remind people that applications are open now. If you’re struggling with your heating bills, you can go to swepco.com, look at LIHEAP. Also look at, we have a couple of payment assistance programs. And we’re going to roll out a new one next year that we can talk about as well. But you can go to the LIHEAP tool, see if you’re eligible, and then follow the portal to apply for these grant funds. And that helps with heating bills that you may have fallen behind on, or if you’re in crisis mode where you’re about to lose power. This is for families who need this immediate help.
Application period now, through March 31 in Arkansas. Now, that might be extended, Kyle. If we get a big storm or if there is a kind of a heating crisis from bad weather toward the end of that period, that’ll be extended to April 30, and that’s for heating crisis. If you’re about to have your power turned off because of a heating crisis, so have until the end of March right now to apply.
Kellams: You can apply right now. I suppose it’s open that long also because you could unfortunately enter into a crisis that you don’t foresee right now.
Schlesing: Correct. Yeah. We have a lot of winter ahead of us, and I think all of us in northwest Arkansas know that we always get a pretty good storm around spring break.
Kellams: Yes we do. If you apply and you are eligible, what can happen? What can help?
Schlesing: Then you’ll learn where your application is and funding will come and help with those bills. Yeah, it’s grant funding.
Kellams: What if someone doesn’t have reliable or consistent access to getting online, or might not be familiar with how to get online?
Schlesing: Absolutely. So you can also apply at community-based organizations, depending on what county you’re in. So some information for your listeners in Washington County, if you want to apply online or learn more and talk to a person about this, the Economic Opportunity Agency of Washington County, which is in Springdale, is your LIHEAP organization. If you’re in Benton, Carroll or Madison counties, that’s Our Healthy Communities, and that’s in Rogers. And then further south, Crawford and Sebastian counties, that’s Crawford-Sebastian Community Development Council. And further south of Fort Smith, which is also our customer area, is the Arkansas River Valley Area Council. So any of those locations can help people sign up for LIHEAP and apply.
Kellams: You mentioned that there was going to be something next year that we could talk about. Do you mean we can talk about it next year or we can talk about it now?
Schlesing: Well, it’s actually next year, Kyle. It’s 2026. We have lots of payment options because we understand, we work hard to keep utility prices affordable and reliable for everybody. And we know that particularly in winter and summer, it can be a struggle for everyone. And so that’s why we offer some payment options, payment extensions and plans.
Well, we’re excited. We’re going to start something called Pay As You Go in a couple of months. We have launched this in Louisiana, and we’re going to start it here. And that’s where it comes with the smart meters that we’ve put in here. And customers at SWEPCO will be able to prepay what they can and then be able to see on a daily basis what your utility usage is. And you can pay what you can as you go. And that’ll keep the lights on. It makes it much more flexible and affordable and helpful. So looking forward to talking about that a little bit more as we get ready to launch that. But that’s really going to help a lot of people be able to stay on top of their utility usage.
Another thing that can help is energy efficiency programs, where we have no out-of-pocket costs to do weatherization. Come in and seal your ducts, add more insulation,
Kellams: Weatherstripping, that sort of thing?Schlesing: Weather stripping. It can save hundreds of dollars a year, and we have a team that is dedicated to that as well as they offer incentives, checks in your pocket for buying energy-efficient products. And you can get incentives and rebates for that too. So lots of options out there for helping people reduce their utility usage.
Kellams: And again, where can people, if they can go online, where can they find out more about LIHEAP?
Schlesing: That’s at swepco.com.
Kellams: Amy, thanks so much.
Schlesing: Thanks, Kyle.
Amy Schlesing is region communications manager for SWEPCO Fayetteville District. She came to the Carver Center for Public Radio in early January. The deadline to apply for LIHEAP grants in Arkansas is March 31, and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment reports LIHEAP is available to residents in all 75 counties through a network of 15 community-based organizations throughout the state.
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