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Consumers Energy outlines expanded assistance programs for Jackson customers
Summary
Consumers Energy presented a condensed overview of emergency and long-term assistance programs for low- and moderate-income customers, highlighting a CARE enrollment change that expands eligibility and an online personalized-offers tool to help residents find savings and support.
Audrey Dean, energy assistance outreach consultant for Consumers Energy, told the Jackson City Council on Sept. 30 that several company and state programs can help customers facing unpaid bills or high energy costs. "My name is Audrey Dean, and I am the energy assistance outreach consultant for Consumers Energy," she said as she began a condensed presentation of services for vulnerable customers.
Dean said State Emergency Relief through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is a crisis-payment pathway and will allow individuals to receive up to $600 per commodity starting with the new fiscal year. She described the utility’s CARE program as the "gold standard" for assistance: "when someone applies for the care program and is accepted into it, their back balance is frozen," Dean said, and program enrollment offers reduced monthly payments while MEEP pays down remaining balances.
Dean noted a recent eligibility change that expands CARE to households at 60% of the state median income, which she said will allow the program to serve a broader range of incomes than the 150% federal poverty threshold used by State Emergency Relief. She also explained that Consumers Energy partners with local nonprofits — including United Way of South Central Michigan and a community action agency — to enroll customers and provide wraparound services.
Other programs Dean highlighted include gift funding (shareholder dollars distributed to nonprofits to assist households up to 400% of the federal poverty level) and the Helping Neighbors energy-efficiency program for income-qualified customers (up to 200% FPL). For renters, Dean said services are more limited but described a landlord-focused "Lending a Hand" program that will pay 70% of eligible efficiency measures if the landlord pays 30%, and confirmed that mobile and manufactured homes can be served.
Dean encouraged customers to use Consumers Energy’s online My Personalized Offerings tool, which she said asks a few questions and then presents a tailored list of credits, payment-plan options and energy-waste-reduction services. She closed by offering to take questions from council members and staff.
