Help With Utility & Electric Bill

January 30, 2024

Are you struggling to pay your utility and electric bill this winter? Eversource and Operation Fuel may be able to help immediately. Please keep scrolling to find out what resources are available.

Crews have rescheduled a legislative town hall in West Hartford. This is an opportunity for you to learn about our priorities for 2024 and to ask questions. You will find the new date and time for that event below.

And Hartford is receiving more electric vehicle chargers. Where will crews be installing the chargers and how many are coming? I'll have the answers below. 

These are the sections in today's email:

  • Help With Utility & Electric Bill
  • Meet Me in Person in West Hartford
  • More Electric Vehicle Chargers Coming
  • Sign & Pavement Marking Improvement Project
 
Help With Utility & Electric Bill

The application period for the 2023-2024 winter season of the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) is open. CEAP provides vulnerable state homeowners and renters with crucial support for the associated costs with heating their homes.

Applications for the 2023-2024 winter season must be received by May 31, 2024. If you are interested, there are several ways to apply:

Additional information on the application process can be obtained by visiting ct.gov/heatinghelp or calling 2-1-1. 
Basic benefits toward heating bills range from $180 to $530 depending on income, size of household, and need. Benefits are available for households with incomes up to 60% of the state median income, which equates to roughly $79,910 for a family of four. These benefits are usually paid directly to the utility company or fuel supplier. Households that heat with deliverable fuels like oil or propane may be eligible for multiple free tank refills.

In addition, Operation Fuel's energy assistance program opened earlier this month for the Winter/Spring season. Applications will be accepted until March 1, 2024 unless available funds run out before that date.

Households with incomes that do not exceed 75% of the State Median Income Guidelines may qualify for assistance. These households include - but are not limited to - the elderly, disabled, working families, or individuals facing a financial crisis.

Eligible clients may apply for energy assistance (gas, electric, oil, or other deliverable fuel) ONCE per year and receive a grant of up to $500.

For utility assistance (electric & gas), clients must show they made at least four payments in the past 12 months, must owe a past due amount, and provide at least four weeks of income information.

Operation Fuel is accepting applications for water and energy bill assistance for:

Electric: Eversource, United Illuminating (UI), and Norwalk Public Utilities
Gas: Eversource, UI, Yankee Gas, Southern Connecticut Gas (SCG), and Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG)
Water: CT Water and The Metropolitan District (MDC)

For more information and to apply for assistance, click HERE.
 
Meet Me In Person in West Hartford

You have an opportunity to meet me in person at a West Hartford Legislative Town Hall on Wednesday, February 7 from 6:00 P.M. - 7:30 P.M. at West Hartford Town Hall. My colleagues and I will break down our legislative priorities on the same day that session gets underway.

I look forward to meeting constituents, hearing your goals for the new year, and addressing any questions you may have as your State Representative.
 
More Electric Vehicle Chargers Coming

26 more electric vehicle charging stations are coming to Hartford! The federal government awarded just over $14.5 million to expand cleaner transportation around the entire state.

You will soon see:

  • 12 DCFC chargers at the Library Parking Lot on 166 Sheldon Street
  • 12 more DCFC chargers at the MAT Garage on 55 Chapel Street
  • 2 dual port level 2 chargers at the Sheldon Lot on 141 Sheldon Street

These new locations will join 726 other publicly accessible charging locations across Connecticut.
Increasing the number of electric and hybrid vehicles in Connecticut will greatly reduce air pollution from the transportation sector, which accounts for more than 67% of smog-forming pollution in the state. Over the last year, there was a 19% increase in passenger electric vehicle registrations and a 30% increase in charging ports.
Click Here To Learn More
 
Sign & Pavement Marking Improvement Project

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is putting up signs and pavement marking improvements to improve safety at higher crash-risk intersections. Crews will replace existing signs with new, larger signs and install new ones in some parts of Hartford. CLICK HERE for a list of locations.

The design plans for this project are expected to be completed in January 2025 with a tentative advertising date of April 2025.