How to help Austinites struggling to pay rising utility bills

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Tuesday after the Thanksgiving holiday is known as "Giving Tuesday" to encourage people to help others in need in their community, including those struggling to pay their rising utility bills.

The City of Austin Utilities is reminding neighbors about its Gift of Comfort program, which allows anyone to donate money and make a payment towards a specific customer’s utility bill as a gift. This is happening ahead of Austin Energy customers seeing another rate increase in December.

The utility recently shared it's raising its power supply adjustment rate by 5% starting on Dec. 1. According to Austin Energy, that will translate to less than $2 more per month for the typical residential customer. The utility's general manager said in a memo the increase is “due to a lack of adequate progress toward making up for the existing PSA under-recovery.”

How does this program work?

People can pay for any amount of a customer’s bill. What they'll need is the name and address of the recipient. They do not need to know their account number, but it can be helpful if they have it.

They should visit the Gift of Comfort website and download the Gift of Comfort payment form. Fill out all of the form’s required fields and deliver it and the payment to one of the City's Utility Payment Centers, or mail it to the following address:

City of Austin – Payment Processing
P.O. Box 2267
Austin, TX 78783-2267

The customer will receive a letter from City of Austin Utilities, letting them know they have received a gift payment toward their account. People can give anonymously or print a Gift of Comfort gift card to give to the recipient personally.

Other ways to help

If people do not know someone who specifically needs help, there's another donation fund called the City of Austin Utilities’ Customer Assistance Program. This program helps customers who are unable to pay their utility bills due to unexpected emergencies.

Customers with City of Austin Utilities can make a one-time or recurring donation by adding it to their paper or online utility bill or by mail. For more information about how to help neighbors in need with their utility bills, visit our Plus 1 website.