GLCAP answers utility assistance FAQs

Great Lakes Community Action Partnership (GLCAP) utility assistance staff have fielded an especially high volume of calls for winter utility assistance this winter season.

GLCAP operates the Emergency Home Energy Assistance Program (EHEAP) in Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, and Wood counties, providing utility assistance to residents who are facing an electric or gas shut-off, or are at risk of running out of bulk fuel such as propane. EHEAP is available to residents who are at or below 175 percent of federal poverty guidelines (e.g. $22,540 annual income/household of one; $46,375 annual income/family of four) and are facing a utility shut-off or fuel shortage.

Staff have received an average of 1,284 calls per month for winter heating help since the program began Nov. 1, 2021, through Jan. 31 of this year. Intake workers have also processed more than 600 EHEAP applications and 600 Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) applications for once-per-year energy bill credits. The number of calls and applications for assistance has caused longer response times, but staff are working to address every request, GLCAP Energy Assistance Manager McCauley-Benner said.

“We know it can be nerve-wracking to wait on a return call,” she said. “We want to assure everyone that while the wait times may be longer, we will respond to each and every call in the order it was received.”

One of the biggest worries for customers is when their appointments for assistance are scheduled after their utilities are scheduled to be shut off. McCauley-Benner said clients should know that once an appointment for assistance has been set, regulated utility companies like Columbia Gas, AEP, Toledo Edison, and Ohio Edison will refrain from disconnecting the gas or electric. Customers who do not use a regulated utility or rely on bulk fuel may also schedule an appointment, call the customer service line at 419-333-6054 and leave a message with an confirmation number so GLCAP staff can contact the utility company or fuel supplier to inform them of the appointment.

Answers to questions about EHEAP and other utility assistance programs are available at www.glcap.org/winterheating. Those who need heating assistance may schedule an appointment at this link, or call 567-432-5046.