ComEd Reminds Customers to Apply for LIHEAP Bill Assistance by May 31 Deadline

ComEd connects eligible families to grants, offers enhanced bill-assistance options and more ways to access them

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the May 31 application deadline approaching for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a federal program that helps families with energy costs, ComEd encourages eligible Illinois families and individuals to apply now while funding is available.

While ComEd’s average monthly residential bills remain among the lowest in the country, the impacts of the pandemic and inflation have created economic challenges for some households. That is why, by contacting ComEd, representatives can help connect eligible customers to funding available through LIHEAP and other state and federal assistance programs. In addition to state and federal assistance, ComEd also offers bill support through its Supplemental Arrearage Reduction Program (SARP), which is available to ComEd residential customers who qualified to receive energy-assistance benefits from LIHEAP.

“Each year, we run the risk of energy-assistance funding going unclaimed because Illinois residents think they don’t qualify for grants,” said Melissa Washington, ComEd's chief customer officer and senior vice president of customer operations. “We encourage all our customers to contact ComEd immediately so we can help them determine if they’re eligible for financial assistance. If not, ComEd has a number of enhanced bill-payment options to support families of all income levels.”

To make families and individuals aware of energy bill assistance options available and connect them to the assistance they need, ComEd works with community organizations to host assistance events. For a list of event times and locations, visit ComEd.com/LocalEvents.

Any customer experiencing difficulty paying their electric bill is encouraged to call ComEd immediately at 1-800-334-7661 (1-800-EDISON-1), Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to learn more on how to apply. Information on each of these options is available at ComEd.com/PaymentAssistance.

Enhanced bill-payment options

In addition to financial-assistance options, ComEd offers residential customers the following payment programs. Visit ComEd.com/Eligibility for eligibility guidelines and to apply.

• A more flexible and generous deferred payment arrangement of up to 12 months with zero dollars down through July 31, 2022, for low-income customers. All other residential customers who contact ComEd can sign up for a deferred payment arrangement of up to 12 months with 10-percent down through July 31, 2022.
• For any ComEd residential customer who has had service disconnected, but subsequently enrolls in LIHEAP or a Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP), ComEd will waive reconnection fees through July 31, 2022.
• Budget billing, which provides a predictable monthly payment based on your electricity usage from the last 12 months.
• Flexible payment options like due-date extensions.
• High-usage alerts, which enable customers to receive alerts when their usage is trending higher than normal to help manage overall energy use, and energy-management tips to help customers manage energy use to save money now and on future energy bills.

Easier access to assistance and energy-saving options

To streamline access to financial-assistance options and programs that can help families and individuals manage their electric bills, ComEd recently launched the Smart Assistance Manager (SAM).

SAM is an online self-service tool that can match customers with the payment-assistance programs for which they may eligible – including deferred-payment arrangements and LIHEAP – then provides guidance and links to apply. SAM also provides recommendations on energy-efficiency offerings that can save customers money and energy, including free home energy assessments and discounts on energy-saving products.

Support options are generated based on each customer’s household information, such as energy usage and billing history. Customers who create an online account with ComEd through the “My Account” tool can log in while using SAM to get even more personalized, targeted results. Customers can access this free tool at ComEd.com/SAM.

ComEd is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC), a Fortune 200 energy company with approximately 10 million electricity and natural gas customers – the largest number of customers in the U.S. ComEd powers the lives of more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit ComEd.com and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.