Southwest Gas Home Energy Assistance Fund program

Customers can round up their monthly utility bills, or make one time donations to the Arizona Southwest Gas Home Energy Home Energy Assistance Fund assistance program. All of those contributions are used to help the poor, low income, and struggling keep their utility service on for a short period of time.

But Home Energy Assistance Fund is never an option in of itself. Instead the customer of Southwest Gas is strongly encouraged to reach out to a local social service agency. Or they should apply for LIHEAP grants or some other form of energy bill assistance. As there should be multiple approaches taken.

Details on Southwest Gas Home Energy Assistance Fund

First and foremost, this is a crisis program. It is short term, most likely one time one. It is very difficult (if not impossible) to get sustained support from it. In addition, the utility assistance program is income based. This means the applicant needs to have a total household income that falls within ranges of what has been determined for a certain period of time.

Most of the donations that fund this resource also go for so called exceptional hardships. This can include helping pay the energy or heating bill of a senior citizen who is about to lose their heat or air conditioning. There may also be utility assistance for the disabled, or maybe a struggling family that had a medical emergency. So the funds are very targeted for more one time, short term emergencies.

Applicants to Southwest Gas Home Energy Assistance Fund should also have shown a past ability to pay their bills on time. If they have had repeated delinquencies and/or disconnections, then the donation program may not be for them. Instead the applicant should explore a combination of case management as well as other energy assistance for their needs.

 

 

The donations to pay for this resource come from many different places. There are one time contributions that come from individuals, corporations, and fund raisers held throughout the community. There may be thousands of one time contributions made, and all the money goes for paying utilities.

Southwest Gas in Arizona Home Energy Assistance Fund is also available as a round up service. This means that a customer can decide to have their monthly energy bill “rounded up” to the next highest dollar amount each month. That incremental amount, whether it is dimes or pennies, is added to the charitable program. Yes, those small contributions do make a difference.

Anyone who donates will also be provided an annual statement showing this. They can use that for income tax filing purposes at both the federal and state levels. As in most cases a deduction is given by the government; but if there are questions then check with an accountant or use software such as Turbo-tax.

In any case, the Arizona Southwest Gas Home Energy Assistance Fund program can help the less fortunate keep their lights and electric on. For details, call 211 or a local social service agency in Arizona.