American Electric Power Neighbor to Neighbor program.

Rather than face a disconnection of utility service, customers can look into American Electric Power Neighbor to Neighbor. This is a program that relies on donations as well as funding from the American Electric Power foundation. So while it is limited in scope and comes with restrictions, there may in fact be funds available for struggling customers for paying past due utility bills.

While American Electric Power Neighbor to Neighbor can provide some support to income qualified households, it is for a crisis only. If someone if faced with other circumstances and needs additional, long term assistance then this option may not be best for them. However the customer service team at the Arkansas based American Electric Power can usually offer some form of referrals. In these cases, LIHEAP or a similar service may be the best option.

As noted, this particular program uses money donated from the community. All of the money is rolled up by the administrative team and used to help low income families that are in a crisis situation. Anyone from the community can donate at anytime, as more funding is always greatly appreciated by American Electric Power Neighbor to Neighbor.

In fact, the company itself will also match those contributions up to a fixed dollar amount each year.  How this would work is if someone donates say $10 to Neighbor to Neighbor, then the American Electric Power foundation may match that up to 50%, so an additional $5 is available. Donations can be made monthly or on a one-off basis.

The foundation has also donated tens of thousands of dollars over the years to enhance the other money donated by people. However there is no guarantee to this at all.

 

 

Customers that are struggling can apply for assistance as well. The goal of the program is in fact to offer limited help with utility bills, so people are encouraged to try the service.

The American Electric Power Neighbor to Neighbor program is targeted at providing time to a customer to make it through the difficult period. So if after applying, and if found to be eligible, there may be funds disbursed for a portion of any arrears on the account. The thought is that the customer will also be able to pay a portion of the bill as well, or seek help from another charity, and that money will be used to keep their power on. The goal of the resource is not to be a long term resource or entitlement type service for households.

Then, the next step will be for the American Electric Power customer to address the root cause of their challenge. While the donation program does not help with this, the customer service team from the company can usually offer referrals for this. It is critical for the person to do this or they may just fall behind again in the near future and face yet another disconnection of their power.