Legislation Passes to make utilities more affordable for Illinois’ households with Low Incomes
On Thursday, July 29 th , Governor Pritzker signed SB265 into law expanding the Low
Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and increasing access to the
Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP). The PIPP is a companion program to LIHEAP
which addresses utility affordability by allowing qualified participants to pay no more
than 6% of their monthly income for electric and gas utility services as well as receive
forgiveness of 1/12 of their total utility debt for each on time monthly payment.
According to Larry Dawson, President & CEO of the Illinois Association of Community
Action Agencies (IACAA), “This new law will allow many of our most vulnerable
households to afford their utilities and reduce the burden of administering the program
by the local Community Action Agencies.” Dawson went on to state, “The legislation that
was signed into law resulted from many months of negotiations among a number of
Community Action Agencies, energy affordability advocates, the Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity staff and representatives of large regulated
utilities.”
According to Cathy Feltner, Executive Director of Embarras River Basin Agency (ERBA),
“This new law will enable us to serve more households and strengthen the safety net
especially during these critical times of the pandemic when more households have sought
our assistance.” Feltner went on to say, “Our Agency served 1,031 households with PIPP
and 5,652 households with LIHEAP in FY 2021. We are planning to serve more households
as a result of this very critical piece of legislation.”
Community Action Agencies (CAAs) that primarily administer the LIHEAP and PIPP
programs in Illinois are federally designated to locally address the root causes of poverty.
In Illinois there are 35 agencies that administer the LIHEAP and PIPP programs covering all
102 counties of the State with these critical services. Collectively, CAAs in Illinois provide
vital services to more than one million individuals on an annual basis. Besides human
services, many of the CAAs in Illinois are engaged in community and economic
development activities that range from affordable housing creation, housing
rehabilitation, supporting local businesses and employing small contractors. These
agencies use both federal and state funding to address local poverty issues.
Applications for LIHEAP and PIPP are available starting on September 1, 2021. If you are
interested in applying, please call ERBA at 1-800-252-1152 or 618-783-3987
ABOUT IACAA
The Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies is a membership organization which serves
as the network for Illinois not-for-profit corporations and units of government which strive to raise
the health, education and economic standards of Illinois low income population. Visit the website at
www.iacaanet.org
