Get help paying your electric bill - El Comercio de Colorado

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As Coloradans continue to take the price shock every time their electric bills open, the volume of calls to the Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC) helpline has skyrocketed. During the first week of March 2023, more than 1,600 calls were registered.

Michel Infante, director of EOC’s energy assistance program, says his department is processing more than 700 new applications every week. Infante says the good news is that help is available. This assistance can be accessed by people who have had to use program funds in the past.

Help for seventy-one thousand households

“At EOC, we want people to be aware of the difficult time they are going through. However, in our program we have resources to help them,” Infante says. This official insists that applicants do not necessarily have to be people never asked for this kind of help.”

The EOC estimates that in 2022, more than 71,000 customers in Colorado received help paying their electric bills. The amount of this aid reached 87 million dollars. High and middle income people dislike rising bills. But, in these homes they can write a check without remembering other basic expenses.

Ask for help without remorse

Infante says that families that must live with smaller checks face difficult decisions when having to sacrifice expenses related to their health to face the mandatory payment of a basic service such as electricity. These low-income families most likely do not have emergency savings.

“If you increase the utility bill for a low-income family that is already struggling, they will have to sacrifice one thing or another in order to keep their home warm during the winter,” Infante acknowledges. These executive points out that the funds to help those in need during the winter come from a tax included in the utility bill.

“And that fee goes to support programs like this that keep a lot of people out of critical times when temperatures drop. So no one should feel bad about asking for help, because we’re all doing our part and we can take it when we need help. .” says Infante.

Xcel Economic Results

According to Colorado energy provider Xcel Energy, the rising price of natural gas is the cause of high electric utility bills. However, the company’s balance sheet shows gross profits in 2022 of more than eight trillion dollars. This represents an increase of more than ten percent over the previous year.

The company has also made it known that it invests in wind and solar energy to offset these increases in raw materials to produce energy. According to Xcel, these investments would have reduced energy costs that would otherwise have been passed on to customers by $700 million. However, Xcel increased its prices.