Financial Stress Turns Up the Heat in the Summer

Now that we are years into financial long COVID, financial stress is a year-round ordeal, but certain one time per year expenses only make things worse.  You have long since given up on buying holiday gifts, traveling during your children’s spring break, and preparing a feast for Thanksgiving.  You have been supplementing your income with gigs that issue a 1099, which means that you will probably owe taxes at tax time, but once you have finished paying them, the summer is about to begin.  For some people, the only additional expense that the summer brings is that your energy bills skyrocket as you run your air conditioning for weeks on end to stay cool.  If you have school-aged children, though, the summer is a sustained period of financial hardship.  During the school year, your children attend public school for most of the time that you are at work.  In the summer, though, you must pay for every moment that they are not with you, until they are old enough to stay home alone.  If your children are old enough to stay home alone, you only wish that you could afford to pay for them to participate in summer activities that would keep them out of trouble, such as sports-focused summer camps or academic enrichment activities.  Your reality is that your kids are stuck scrolling through brain rot on their phones while you are at work, and your only hope is to keep the air conditioning on so that they, and you, are not miserable in the summer heat.  If your financial situation is so bad that you are not sure whether you can pay for air conditioning this summer, contact a Philadelphia debt relief lawyer.

Pennsylvania’s Lack of Heating Subsidies Make Things Worse

The latest new financial vulnerability for the 99 percent is that the Department of Health and Human Services has laid off the entire staff of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides subsidies to help people who cannot afford their energy bills pay for air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter.  Every year, several people in the United States die from the effects of extreme temperatures, and assistance from LIHEAP keeps numerous people safe from this terrible fate.

Some states have statewide programs that prevent energy companies from turning off residents’ heating or air conditioning because of unpaid bills.  In some states, energy companies may not turn off air conditioning or heating within a certain date range, and in others the restrictions on turning off services depends on the temperatures in the areas where the residents live.  Pennsylvania law does not prevent the energy companies from turning off your AC if you can’t pay, so the only way to ensure that you stay cool is to stay current on your energy bills or find someone to stay with if your AC gets turned off.

Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com About Freeing Up Funds for Your Energy Bills

A Philadelphia consumer law attorney can help you if you are in danger of falling behind on your energy bills this summer.  Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.

Source:

energyprograms.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/shutoffprotections.pdf