CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As the temperatures in the Coastal Bend decrease, the city of Corpus Christi is now offering a Limited Utility Assistance Program for residents who may be most vulnerable or in need of financial help with their utility bill.
The Energy Information Administration is predicting the average U.S. household will spend $900 on natural gas or $1,366 on electricity between October 2022 through March of next year. The city's Limited Utility Assistance Program will assist low-income seniors, veterans, and the disabled during those months.
Director of Neighborhood Services for the city of Corpus Christi, Linda Stewart spoke with 3NEWS and said, "It takes the entire community to meet the needs of our most vulnerable residents."
Stewart told 3NEWS that a HUD grant allows the city to use $130,000 dollars to help residents pay their utility bills over the next coming months. She adds, "to help approximately 260 households."
Stewart explained, "we thought it would be very important to support our most vulnerable residents by providing up to $500 per household."
The $500 goes straight to the utilities company. As of Friday, the city has received 47 applications. "We will close the application process once we receive 350 applications," Stewart said. Applications are available at senior centers throughout the city. You can also find them on the second floor of City Hall or online in the link below.
If you don't fall into the group who qualifies for this program, Omar Lopez with AEP Texas shared a few money saving tips. Lopez explained, "check your window, and maybe you need a little bit of a weather stripping or weather sealing that 25% of energy can leave your home, just due to those drafts in the windows."
During the cooler months it is important to manage energy consumption wisely. "Everyone's using a heater everyone's using some kind of heating element," Lopez said. "And there are a lot of things you can do to keep your home warm over the holidays when it's cold."
If you are a low-income senior citizen, veteran, or disabled, the city encourages you to click here in order to fill out the application.
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