The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Texas has been hit with several bouts of extremely cold weather this winter, and that is heating up many customers’ electric bills. But just in time, the federal government has released LIHEAP funds to help low-income, elderly and disabled Texas residents pay their energy bills. The state recently received more than $14.2 million in sequestered and additional funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. That brings the total for the 2014 fiscal year to more than $128.6 million.

“Every day our low-income customers struggle to make ends meet,” said Vernon Pierce, vice president, customer service, Entergy Texas, Inc. “When inclement weather hits and affects utility bills, it creates an added strain on their budgets, so we’re working hard to get the word out that help is available.”

LIHEAP funds are administered through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

For information on how to apply for LIHEAP funds, go to: www.entergytexas.com/content/our_community/advocate/TDHCA_Agencies.pdf.

Entergy Texas employees, shareholders and customers also contribute to The Power to Care, a special fund that provides emergency utility assistance for elderly and disabled customers. The Salvation Army and Entergy’s partners in this program use money from the fund to help pay the electric bills of qualifying customers. For a list of Power to Care agencies for Texas, visit http://www.entergytexas.com/our_community/fuel_fund.aspx

Other energy-saving resources are available at www.entergytexas.com/savemoney.

Entergy Texas provides electricity to more than 420,000 customers in 27 counties. It is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation’s leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.