Utility Bill Assistance

I received my HEAP letter in the mail, why doesn’t my company have the money yet? 
HEAP credits post to your main heating source within 60 days of the date of your letter. Please allow at least 60 days before inquiring the status of the payment. If you are in crisis (disconnect status or low in bulk fuel), please call our scheduling hotline to make a crisis appointment or our customer service line.

I have called the hotline and it says appointments are full. Why and what should I do? 
Due to limited staffing, only a certain amount of appointments are available each day. Once those are full, the next day more will open. The hotline opens up more appointments at midnight. We suggest calling after then or early in the morning. 

I called the customer service number and left a message. No one has called me back. 
Rest assured your message was received! Just like many other businesses, we have limited staffing and a large increase in the volume of calls. Please be patient and we assure you we are returning calls in the order they were received. We also created these questions to help address the most common questions. Please do not leave multiple messages as this will slow down the process in returning calls. 

I called the hotline and it says my appointment will be after my disconnect date. Do I need a sooner appointment? 
No! The regulated companies of Columbia Gas, AEP, Toledo Edison, and Ohio Edison have agreed to place a hold on your disconnect notice once you schedule an appointment with us. Be sure to not hang up until your receive your confirmation number, which is proof you scheduled your appointment. When calling the hotline with a disconnect notice, be sure to select Winter Crisis, then select your utility company, then enter your account number. This is the only way the hold will go through. 

If your utility company is not one of the regulated companies listed above or you use bulk fuel, please schedule your appointment and then call our customer service number and leave a message with the name of your company and your confirmation number so that we can contact your company directly.

I was removed from the PIPP program and I don’t understand why? 
PIPP requires that you re-verify your income every 12 months and anytime you have a change in income or household status. If you haven’t reverified in the last 12 months the utility companies will remove you from PIPP as a reminder that you need to re-apply. To reverify your PIPP, choose one of the following: Fill out a paper application and mail or drop off to one of our offices (you must include all documentation in order for the application to be processed); Apply online here.

I applied online and have not received any updates. When will I know my application was approved?
Online applications are reviewed in the order they are received. There is a large volume of applications and the process can take up to 12 weeks. Once approved, you can log in and view the status. 

I mailed my application to Columbus. Why haven’t I heard anything? 
These applications are uploaded to our system in the order they are received and can also take up to 12 weeks to approve. REMEMBER, if you are in crisis, please call our hotline! 

Is it any faster to drop off my application to a local office? 
All HEAP/PIPP applications are sorted and processed by date received. The timeframe is about the same for any method, but we are doing our best to get through them much sooner than the maximum 12 weeks.