PGW: Customers Should Apply Now For Help Paying Heating Bill
By Mark Abrams
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia Gas Works is urging customers who may have trouble paying their heating bill this upcoming winter to apply for help now.
Philadelphia Gas Works spokesman Barry O'Sullivan says enrollment in the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program, known as LIHEAP, is open.
"We know that approximately 150,000 of our customers meet the eligibility guidelines for LIHEAP," he says. "That's 150,000 people who struggle during the winter to pay for their heating bills."
O'Sullivan says last year some 60,000 of those customers failed to apply and left what he called real money on the table.
He says grant totals range from $100 to $1,000 and the average PGW customer received $250.
O'Sullivan says now is the time to apply because the money is available on a first-come, first served basis.
He says customers can call PGW to apply in person at the company's six customer service centers in Center City, North Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, Frankford or Germantown. Or, they can visit the PGW website.