Hope for Pennsylvania Residents Struggling to Pay for Air Conditioning

The summer has gone on long enough that we are tired of the heat, but not yet long enough that we are ready to start counting the days before school starts. We have another month before school buses become a common sight, and even longer before we can comfortably sleep without air conditioning. It is fun to sit at home and soak up the AC while indulging in more screen time than you would be able to do during the school year, no matter your age, but paying for all that AC is no fun, no matter your income level. Only the wealthiest people can run their air conditioning as much as they want to in the summer without worrying about how much it will cost. Energy companies in Pennsylvania have gotten enough calls from stressed out customers that this year they have started offering an array of online tools to manage energy usage and energy bills; financial assistance is also available for lower income customers. If you had already accumulated a mountain of debt before this summer and now your need for air conditioning is making it worse, contact a Philadelphia debt relief lawyer.

Bill Toolkit Can Help Consumers Avoid Surprises With Their Energy Bills This Summer

PPL Electric Utilities, which supplies electricity and utilities for more than a million households and businesses in Pennsylvania, has launched Bill Toolkit, a suite of online tools that can help consumers monitor their energy usage and manage payments. These are some of its features:

• Monitoring of each customer’s energy usage in real time
• Budget Billing, where PPL calculates the average energy costs each customer incurs over the course of a year and charges the average amount each month, instead of consumers paying substantially more in the summer
• Installment payment plans for past-due amounts
• The On Track program which lets customers enroll in a plan with predictable monthly payments and, in some cases, forgives past-due balances
• Operation HELP grants for financially distressed consumers

Most of these solutions do not directly aim at consuming less energy for air conditioning, but there are still ways you can do that. Your home should not be the place you go for freezing cold. Instead, set your thermostat to 72 instead of something cooler. If you have a need for lower temperatures, head to a place of business that blasts the air conditioning. Spending an hour sitting at the coffee shop of your local supermarket, reading a book and absorbing the cold AC is the pinnacle of cheapskate summer fun. You can also lie around in your wet swimsuit and eat store brand popsicles at home, or better yet, homemade popsicles made of frozen store brand juice; the combination of 72-degree air conditioning and additional cold stimuli will make you feel plenty cool.

Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com About Staying Cool Without Breaking the Bank

A Philadelphia consumer law attorney can help you get through the hotter months on a modest income.  Contact CONSUMERLAWPA.com to set up a free, confidential consultation.

Source:

energiesmedia.com/ppl-electric-bill-toolkit-assistance-energy/