Written by Tanya Terry, with photos courtesy of Consumers Energy
Megan Kirk from the media relations team at Consumers Energy recently discussed the company’s community engagement efforts and financial assistance programs with the Courier.
Consumers Energy has hosted and will continue to host in-person community events in Flint and across its service territory, partnering with faith-based organizations and community leaders to build trust and provide information about available programs. These events focus on helping customers facing financial pressures with energy bills and energy waste reduction programs.
Kirk explained that increased outreach is necessary because customers are experiencing rising costs across multiple sectors including housing, gasoline and insurance.
There are several general assistance programs offered by Consumers Energy.
“So, the Budget Plan is a payment plan opportunity through which customers can call us and help have us basically break their bill down into 12 equal payments,” said Kirk. “So, what we do internally with our customer is we’ll review the payment, then make adjustments from there.
“So after about a year, that’ll help to balance out what your plan is,” Kirk added. “And it does help to make your bills a bit more predictable. So that way you can better plan for it. If it’s a consistent amount, there may be some availability in terms of the customer for them to have some regularity kind of instilled in there and making sure that they are able to budget from their energy bills month by month.”
Through the Helping Neighbors program, Consumers is able to assist income qualified customers with free energy analysis.
“So, we’ll come in and assess how energy efficient your home is, and we can also install or suggest energy saving upgrades,” said Kirk. “So, if that means a smart thermostat, we can help customers to install smart thermostats so their temperatures are a bit more regulated in their homes. We do water pipe insulation. We also do power strips. We make sure that your appliances are plugged into smart power strips that basically have a trigger so we can make sure that no energy is wasted when those items are not in use.
“So, the Helping Neighbors program really leans into that energy waste reduction portion of our company and making sure that everyone’s homes are running as efficiently as possible. That also helps in colder or warmer temperatures to be able to keep the warm air in during the winter, and then the cooler air in during the summer. So, that helps not to have any waste leaving your home – whether that’s cracks in your door or your window sills, insulating them in that manner. That keeps your bill lower, too.”
Kirk explained that the CARE program is a 2-year, 24-month payment plan that really helps customers. similar to the budget plan, to have like a fixed bill, where there could be some path to balance forgiveness included as well.
“For each customer who is looking to potentially enroll in the CARE plan, their household income has to meet 60% or below state median income.
The enrollment period for the CARE Program is October 1 until the funds are depleted.
“So, we want to make sure that households who are also experiencing any kind of crises that includes past due bills, who are also below the 150% of federal poverty level, they can also seek state emergency relief. And that provides some additional funding to help towards those energy bills.”
Additionally, the Home Heating Credit, available through September 30, provides an average of $200 per customer for households at or below 110% of the federal poverty level.
The company conducted targeted outreach to seniors earlier this year to inform them about available services and shutoff protections during colder months. For seniors specifically, Consumers Energy offers senior citizen bill credits of up to $4 monthly for those 65 years or older at their primary residence.
Consumers Energy contributed $5 million in company funds to assist customers with energy bills, distributed through partnerships with 11 nonprofit organizations including St. Vincent de Paul and New Day Foundation.
Customers can access assistance by calling 1-800-477-5050, visiting consumersenergycom/assistance or dialing 211 to connect with local nonprofits.
Kirk also highlighted the company’s reliability action plan, which includes tree trimming, burying power lines, upgrading circuits in areas with repeat outages, implementing wildfire prevention measures and deploying technology to quickly address power interruptions.
Kirk also stated natural gas prices in Michigan remain historically low, at 25% below the national average.
