The United Way would like to reach out to the community and remind people who are in arrears on their electricity bills, that the winter disconnection ban is lifting May 1st.

"Consumers who are behind can find themselves disconnected if they have not made payment arrangements or resourced communities supports" cautions United Way executive director Francesca Dobbyn. "We encourage everyone who is behind to call 211 to connect to community services".

Applying to the LEAP (Low-income Energy Assistance Program) puts a 21 day hold on a disconnection and gives applicants time to complete the application. If an applicant has already accessed the LEAP program there may be other resources to assist with arrears. Consumers can find out about those programs by calling 211.

The May 1st date also marks significant changes to electricity rates across the province.

· Off peak KWh charges are dropping to 7.7 cents kwh (11% reduction)

· Mid-peak is dropping from 13.2 cents kwh to 11.3 cents kWh (14% reduction)

· On-peak is dropping from 18 cents kWh to 15.7 cents kWh (13% reduction).

The OESP (Ontario Electricity Support Program) a rebate for eligible low income consumers will see a 50% increase in the monthly rebate. A consumer who has a $30 monthly rebate will automatically go to $45 a month. Consumers heating with electricity will have a base rate change from $45 a month to $68 a month.

"The OESP is a simple mechanism to increase supports to a cohort of consumers already verified as low income" Dobbyn explains. "Applying for the OESP is fairly simple and there are many agencies in the community, including the United Way that can assist with an application for qualifying households".

To qualify the electricity bill has to be in the applicants name and meet income guidelines. The income guidelines are available by calling 211.

"As the provinces implements the various components of the Fair Hydro Plan, we expect electricity bills to further drop" Dobbyn stated, "there are more changes coming on the delivery side for our most rural residents, but I don't have a clear timeline on those changes, and the degree those changes will affect consumer bills."

Since October 1st the United Way has processed over 160 applications for electricity support with another 50 files in the application process. This represents $83 000 in support provided to assist with $122 000 in arrears with $40 000 in arrears to be processed.

Since the OESP began (November 2015) the United Way has assisted with over 300 OESP applications.

source: media release, United Way Bruce Grey