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Utility Assistance

Once you are in your home or apartment, you may need assistance paying for utilities. When weather is very cold or very hot, your utility bill can change dramatically. You may be able to take the guess work out of paying each month. Contact your local utility company and inquire about making equal monthly payments. The utility company will average your past use and estimate your annual cost. They will then divide this into 12 equal monthly payments. The company will review your actual usage, at least twice per year, and adjust your payments as needed.

Other federal assistance may be available to you. Each assistance program has eligibility criteria based on the number of people in your home and your income. Check with each program for more information.

The State Energy Assistance & Lifeline (SEAL) Office includes the HEAT, UTAP, and Utility Moratorium Protection (UMP) programs. The SEAL mission is to "identify and provide assistance to truly vulnerable households—the lowest-income with the highest heating costs especially targeting families with young children, the disabled, and the elderly—to provide them with reasonable warmth, health, and safety."

The Home Energy Assistance Target (HEAT) program provides winter home heating assistance and year-round energy crisis intervention for eligible low-income households throughout Utah. It also provides funds to the State Weatherization Program to help weatherize homes, and to provide emergency repair or replacement of defunct furnaces or air conditioning units. The HEAT motto is: "A warm temperate home is as basic to health and safety as is good nutrition and medical care. HEATing assistance is a wellness strategy." Contact your local HEAT office or apply for HEAT online.

The Utah Telephone Assistance (UTAP) program provides low-income households with discounts for initial landline telephone installation and discounts for their monthly phone bills. For more information call 1-800-948-7540.

The Utility Moratorium Protection (UMP) protects eligible households from having their heat being shut-off during the winter. For more information call (801) 538-8644.

The Home Electric Lifeline Program (HELP), in cooperation with Rocky Mountain Power, provides their HEAT-eligible customers with a monthly discount off their electric bill. For more information call (801) 961-7286 or Toll-Free 1-866-205-4357.

The Weatherization Assistance Program helps qualified low income-eligible persons make their homes more energy efficient. This lessens the impact of utility costs on limited household budgets and helps stimulate self-sufficiency. The Weatherization Assistance program is a federally funded program administered by the Utah Department of Community & Economic Development. Participating households average nearly 33 percent in savings, or about $285 per year, after the completion of weatherization improvements. For more information, contact your local office or apply online.

REACH is funded by voluntary contributions from local residents, Questar employees and stockholders, and it helps qualified income-eligible individuals pay their utility bills. Applicants must be at least 65 years old and/or handicapped or disabled. The program is a year-round program and will be open as funding permits. Customers must have applied for assistance through the state's HEAT program before applying for REACH. REACH applications are available at local Red Cross offices. For appointments or information, contact the chapter nearest you:

Salt Lake City	(801) 323-7000
Ogden	(801) 627-0000
Provo	(801) 373-8580
Logan	(435) 752-1125
St. George	(435) 674-4440
All other areas of Utah	(800) 328-9272