COLUMBUS, Ohio — Monday evening, Columbus City Council approved an ordinance to help low-income residents afford the rising costs of utilities using over half a million of COVID relief funds.

What You Need To Know

  • Council voted to release COVID relief funding for one time bill credits to help low-income residents struggling to pay their utility bills

  • Eligible residents will receive a one-time $65 credit and 25% off water and sewer charges and $50 for their power bill

  • To qualify, residents must meet the maximum income level based on 200% of the federal poverty level

This isn’t the first-year council has helped residents pay for water and sewer costs but for the first time, council is also helping offset the costs of electricity. 

“Utility rates are increasing substantially and so we're trying to do what we can to kind of support residents during this time,” said Columbus City Council member, Christopher Wyche. 

Council voted to release COVID relief funding for one time bill credits to help low-income residents struggling to pay their utility bills. Eligible residents will receive a one-time $65 credit and 25% off water and sewer charges and $50 for their power bill. Wyche believes some AEP users may switch to Columbus power to take advantage of the program. 

“We hear from folks all the time about the challenges related to bills as far as AEPS increases. We're actually encouraging residents to, one shop their price,” said Wyche.  

To qualify, residents must meet the maximum income level based on 200% of the federal poverty level. And those 60 and older who qualify for the program will also have their monthly service charges waived. 

“This helps offset those rises in utility charges to families, to customers that qualify based on income. The process is very simple information we provided on our website,” said Deputy Director of the Department of Public Utilities Ken Heigel. 

The inevitability of rising utility rates was unpreventable because of supply and demand and the cost of services. 

“We evaluate utility rates on an annual basis to cover the cost of service, everything from operation and maintenance to any loan funds we may need to improve the water and sewer system,” said Heigel.

This program is currently only accessible for single family properties but according to Wyche, hearings to expand the program to mutli-family properties will begin this week. If you are eligible for the utility credits, you can visit columbus.gov to apply.