Member Assistance Program aims to aid members struggling to keep up with increasingly cost of electricity
Golden Valley Electric Association’s board of directors have given the go-ahead for a new program to help co-op members who’ve fallen behind in their monthly payments to catch up.
Golden Valley already has several programs in place to help members in need keep up with their monthly electric bills, says GVEA spokesperson Ashley Bradish.
“Right now,” she said, “we offer different budget-billing options, payment plans, payment extensions, guidance for energy usage and energy efficiency.
Bradish said in a presentation during Tuesday’s board meeting that the number of members who had to use those programs increased last winter, because they used more electricity to stay warm at the same time the co-op had to boost the price of energy to keep pace with the rising cost of fuel to generate it.
The price hikes increased members’ monthly electric bills by an average of $45 a month. That and the overall cost of living increase hit some members especially hard.
“The tools that we have in-house -- they help people manage their payments, but they don’t really provide that direct financial relief when they need it most,” she said.
That’s why the co-op’s directors want to begin offering a more direct kind of help through new tools that’ll become available through the Member Assistance Program. Bradish said it’ll offer direct grants of up to $750 to qualifying members to help them catch up on payments. And it’ll ensure their electricity won’t be shut off while they’re paying the balance due.
“ I think we'd be able to help a lot more people who are really needing it right now.”
The program would be initially funded through $200,000 in abandoned capital credits that are produced when the co-op generates revenues that exceed expenses. Golden Valley would then work to develop other sources of funding to ensure the program would be able to help members in need in the coming years, without requiring other members to pay for it
“ It's really a self-sustainable structure for us,” she said. “It makes sure that we can support members over time. And it's separate from any operating funds. It doesn't impact member rates at all.”
Golden Valley Member Advisory Committee member Gary Pedretty agrees. He helped Bradish and others develop the Member Assistance Program. He says co-op officials have done a good job explaining why the cost of electricity has risen. And the new program will build upon that.
“ We’re telling people about why the rates went up, how to do better,” he said, “but none of that actually is really helping them get through the month.”
The Member Advisory Committee’s recommendations on the new program include surveying grant recipients a year after they get the assistance about whether and how it benefited them. They also proposed that the whole program should be reviewed one year after it’s launched this fall.
That’s the accelerated timeframe to get the new program up and going that the board unanimously voted to approve during Tuesday’s meeting.
