As we begin to come out of the cold winter months, you may find yourself behind on your heating bill. In order to avoid disconnection, always contact your utility provider first to see if a payment plan is an option for you. Additionally, we have included some resources below if you find yourself needing financial assistance with your utility bills.

Always Call Delaware 2-1-1 first. Delaware 2-1-1 is a free guide to human services and community resources.

The Delaware Energy Assistance Program (DEAP) is a federally funded program for low-income families that need help in meeting their costs of home energy.  The Division of State Service Centers (DSSC) administers this program on a contractual basis with Catholic Charities, Inc.  Funds are provided by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).  DEAP services provide assistance to income eligible families to help them meet their home energy needs.  Income eligibility is defined as 200% of the federal poverty level.  (As a reference, please see the Division of Social Services’ Income Eligibility tables.) DEAP has several components which include:

• Fuel Assistance:  Help with home energy bills from the period of October 1 – March 31.  This includes grants to income eligible households to help pay for home heating, which includes electricity, natural gas, kerosene, propane, coal, or wood.  Grants are made to both homeowners and renters. 
• Crisis Assistance:  This component helps households in crisis during the winter months and may be in the form of a supplemental grant to their fuel assistance benefit.  In addition to being income eligible, households must show they are experiencing a crisis (i.e., shut-off notice, out of fuel, no money to pay for fuel).
• Summer Cooling Assistance Program (SCAP):   This program operates during the months of June-August and helps pay for electricity to cool homes with air conditioning during the hot, humid summer months.  In addition to receiving a grant to offset the high costs of electricity to air condition a home, some populations may be eligible to receive a room sized air conditioning unit. 

Good Neighbor Energy Fund – Delmarva Power is committed to helping customers who are facing challenges with their electric bill.  Delmarva Power is proud to partner with the Salvation Army, a local 501(c)3 non-profit organizations who provides energy assistance benefits to customers in Delmarva Power’s service territory in Delaware. 

The Good Neighbor Energy Fund is designed to help customers who are facing hardships.  You can help a Delmarva Power Delaware customer in need of assistance with their electric bill by contributing to the fund.  Delmarva Power will match customer contributions $1.00 for every $3.00 collected up to $70,000.
Want to contribute? Whether you receive your bill electronically or through the mail, you can pay exactly $1.00 over your Delmarva Power bill amount and that dollar will be contributed to the Good Neighbor Energy Fund.  The amount you contribute must be exactly $1.00 over your billed amount; amounts over $1.00 will not be recognized as a contribution and will result in a credit to your account. You can make a $1.00 contribution each time you pay your Delmarva Power bill.
Each time you make a $1.00 contribution, the amount will be reflected on your Delmarva Power bill summary the following month.
You can also make a donation in any amount you choose and as often as you’d like by contacting the one of the partner agencies directly: 
The Salvation Army
P.O. Box 308
Wilmington, DE 19899-0308
For more information, call (302) 472-0750

Catholic Charities Energy Assistance – To participate, all new applicants must make an appointment with Catholic Charities between July and March of each year for a personal interview. It is important to make your appointment early, and keep your scheduled appointment in order for you to get help. Prior year LIHEAP applicants may still call to make an appointment, but you may also mail, fax or drop off your LIHEAP heating application and required documents at the local office drop box (see “LIHEAP Assistance” below).

All heating and cooling sources, including electricity, gas, oil, kerosene, wood, propane, natural gas, and coal are eligible. To see if your family income falls within the program guidelines, click here.
It is important to call Catholic Charities to find out where and how to apply for assistance.  To contact Catholic Charities call:
Kent County: (302) 674-1782
New Castle County: (302) 654-9295
Sussex County: (302) 856-6310

Delaware Housing Assistance Program DE HAP – DSHA is currently working to reopen the Delaware Housing Assistance Program (DEHAP) to provide rental assistance for renters financially impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Delaware will receive about $200 million in Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funding provided by the recent COVID relief bill, and Governor Carney has tasked DSHA with administering these funds for the state.

The rental assistance funding comes with new eligibility and reporting requirements, and we are carefully reviewing the legislation and the guidance issued by the U.S. Treasury. DSHA is working now to develop a web portal for applicants, assure resources to provide application assistance, and ensure we have capacity to review and process thousands of payments to landlords.

Weatherization Assistance Program – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) offers a free Weatherization Assistance Program to help establish comfortable, energy-saving homes. The program, run through the Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy, helps homeowners and renters cut their energy bills by weatherproofing and improving the energy efficiency of their homes.

Many households spend a large portion of their monthly income on utilities, trying to heat leaky homes while drafty doors and windows or poorly insulated walls, pipes, and crawl spaces allow heat to escape.

Professionals from the Weatherization Assistance Program can help low-income households fix these problems by assessing the home and providing weatherstripping, insulation, energy efficient light bulbs and other energy-saving measures – all free of charge.

Thousands of Delawareans have benefited from this program; many have cut their energy bill by 30 to 50 percent.

Energize Delaware’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program – Energize Delaware’s Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® program takes a whole house approach to assessing and improving your home’s comfort, energy efficiency, durability, and safety. Rather than focus on a single problem—such as an inefficient heating and cooling system or drafty windows—the program looks at how home improvements throughout your home can work together to make your entire space more comfortable and energy-efficient, and save you money.

Learn what this program can do for you, as either a resident or a contractor, by calling 877-524-1339.