Sun Prairie Utilities RoundUp utility bill assistance

Using money raised from one time as well as Round Up type donations, the Sun Prairie Utilities RoundUp program can help a small number of struggling customers pay their utility bills. The contributions to provide energy bill assistance come from many sources, including customers; public fund raisers held in the community; employees as well as management; and shareholders.

Who is assisted?

There are a wide variety of customers that can be helped. In order to apply to the Sun Prairie Utilities donation program, the applicant needs to have a limited income and also be facing some type of financial hardship. They also need to have no other options available to them, so the customer has to have used up any Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) grants as well as local charitable programs. They also need to have limited savings as well as assets available to them.

While the vast majority of utility bill assistance will go to low income families, there may be exceptions made from time to time. This can be if the person seeking help has had a medical emergency or maybe a primary wage earner has died. Or an elderly person at risk of illness/death without electricity may be assisted. Other exceptions can also be made from time to time; but even in those instances the applicant needs to have a limited income.

Sun Prairie Utilities RoundUp is a resource that can of course help pay utility bills. But the amount of assistance that can be provided is very limited; at best maybe a portion of an unpaid bill can be paid. So while the groups of individuals referenced above may be qualified, this program alone will not take care of the entire challenge that they may be facing.

 

 

That is why Sun Prairie Utilities customers often partner with local social service agencies at the same time. As donations in of themselves are not enough; often other financial aid or energy conservation measures (including weatherization) can and should be explored. For more information on applying to the service, or getting details on other resources in the community, call 608.837.5500 to reach a customer support specialist.

How to give back to Sun Prairie Utilities RoundUp?

There are a few ways to do this. First, a donor should always keep in mind that any contribution is tax deductible. This is both at the state of Wisconsin level as well as federally. So depending on the donors income tax bracket, any contribution they may will not cost them quite as much money in so called “net” contribution.

So the methods to give back are as follows. First, the quickest and most simple way is to make a one time contribution. This can be any dollar amount wanted, whether it is $5, $10, $50, or $100. Or truly any amount. All of those funds will only go to qualified households and it may help them keep their power on for a defined period of time.

Sun Prairie Utilities RoundUp also has a round up type, monthly donation program. For those customers that voluntarily enroll, their monthly bill will be increased to the next highest dollar amount. That incremental amount added to the bill will then go to help fund the energy bill assistance program.

In either case, any donations will always be voluntary as well as the program is fully income tax deductible. They can be stopped or started at any time. For more information on either of these processes, dial the phone number referenced above.