Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced that families can apply for assistance through the Help Illinois Families Program.
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By Benjamin Cox on July 6, 2021 at 4:29pm
Ameren Illinois has announced it has provided $29 million in bill forgiveness throughout Central and Southern Illinois.
Ameren said in a press release that it worked to significantly reduce or avoid service disruptions and possibly eliminate past due utility bills for some customers.
The assistance came in the form of a one-time credit that was applied toward utility bills with balances up to $5,000, households slated for service disconnection, and customers who had received state energy assistance through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) or Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP).
All available credits were applied to customer accounts on May 2nd. The assistance was made possible by the Utility Disconnection Avoidance Program, a first-time program developed to help customers during the pandemic. Ameren Illinois collaborated closely with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
Thousands in Central Illinois receive help paying for energy bills
Unmute
(HOI) More than 3,000 Ameren customers in Central Illinois received assistance paying their past due energy bills.
The assistance comes from a one-time grant program derived from a variety of state and federal assistance programs, including the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Utility Disconnection Avoidance Program (UDAP).
Ameren applied around $29 million to outstanding utility bill balances across the state, with around $3.5 million coming to customers in Peoria and Bloomington.
Kacy Woodruff is an Ameren customer in Pekin. She says her balance of around $700 was wiped out, and it came as a complete surprise.
Gov. JB Pritzker said Monday he will be phasing out the statewide moratorium on evictions by August, as he announced the launch of a $1.5 billion rental relief program for Illinois.
“We will work with our partners to bring an end to the eviction moratorium in August, with a gradual phase out over the next few months, with more details to come,” Pritzker said. […]
Pritzker said the new program is approximately four times larger than the rental relief program Illinois launched last year during the pandemic, which provided assistance to nearly 36,000 renters in the Chicago area alone.
The governor said more than 120,000 renters could see relief through the new program.