Lorain County Office on Aging

Low-Income Columbia Gas Customers Receive Additional Bill Payment Assistance

COLUMBUS, Ohio – November 10, 2010 – Residential customers having difficulty paying their Columbia Gas of Ohio bills received a much-needed boost today after eligibility for a fuel fund was expanded.

Responding to a request initiated by the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) and supported by Columbia Gas of Ohio, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) staff and others, the PUCO ordered fuel funds from an interstate pipeline supplier refund be made available to any household with an income up to 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Previously, the income eligibility guidelines were much more restrictive and limited to consumers who may not have qualified for other assistance programs.

“This is welcome news to low-income Columbia Gas consumers,” Consumers’ Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander said. “With an anticipated reduction in federal funding of programs like HEAP (Home Energy Assistance Program), it is critical that every available dollar from the pipeline refund be used to help consumers avoid getting behind in natural gas payments and to stay connected to their natural gas service this winter.”

Everytime you do a search on your computer or buy an item on the internet you can help the Office on Aging in their fund raising efforts.  More than 1,600 top stores including Amazon, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Apple, Gap and more will donate a percentage of virtually every sale to the Lorain County Office on Aging.  And everytime you do a search Goodsearch will donate .01 cent to the cause.