LOUISVILLE, Ky. — About 3,600 residents have had their utilities disconnected since the moratorium ended in June.
Disconnects were put on pause during the height of the pandemic, but now many people are at risk of losing their power. A total of 21,000 LG&E customers are facing disconnects due to lack of payment.
The company, continues to urge customers to reach out to either get assistance or a payment plan if they are struggling to pay the bills.
"We're not out of it yet," said Debbie Belt, communication coordinator with Louisville Metro's Office of Resilience and Community Services. "Its great that we have the funding available — that we have community partners that work together. that are here to help people."
The Resilience and Community Services Office is getting ready to launch their summer cooling low-income housing energy assistance program, better known as LIHEAP. This round, they have two groups: subsidy and crisis.
"As long as you're income-eligible, you can apply for that subsidy phase," Belt said. "And then the crisis phase we're going to process it the same time as we're evaluating the applications if you do have a balanced owed."
The program is for one-time assistance and is determined on a case by case basis. Those in need could see up to $600, an amount that officials with the city say could make the difference.
"We're serving the most vulnerable households and its vital that this assistance is here to keep everybody safe, stabilized and moving forward," Belt said.
The summer cooling subsidy and crisis round for LIHEAP will go into effect on Monday, July 12.
For more information on how to apply and for eligibility, click here.
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