Charitable efforts to provide utility relief for O’Fallon residents get boost from city

After several months of discussion and negotiations, the O’Fallon City Council has approved a Residence Assistance Program that will help families in need with utility bills.

The city has allocated $25,000 for water/sewer bill assistance and $25,000 for Ameren Illinois utility bill assistance in the FY23 annual budget’s general fund that went into effect Sunday, May 1.

This agreement means churches and charitable organization who help residents struggling with paying these bills will be reimbursed.

At its meeting Monday, May 2, the council OK’d a memorandum of understanding that formalizes the deal to cover half the cost, paying the group who takes care of the full amount. By giving them half, the church or organization can use more of their funds for others in need.

The groups include the St. Vincent DePaul Society O’Fallon Conference, O’Fallon First United Methodist Church, New Life in Christ Church, and Faith Lutheran Church.

This is the result of church leaders speaking up about the city’s cut of the American Recovery Plan Act funds. The city has been earmarked for $4.2 million. Funds were allocated to state, local and tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Representatives from St. Vincent DePaul Society and the United Congregations of the Metro East approached the city to help, and the mayor and staff met with them several times.

City Manager Walter Denton had previously explained the city does not provide social services, nor does it have procedures in place to vet people for assistance, but the city receives pledges from local churches and agencies to take care of past-due water and sewer bills. These groups have determined who qualifies, so the staff will work with them on policies and procedures, and not the people directly.

The individual receiving assistance must be an O’Fallon resident and reside within the city boundaries.

The city has organized a task force to meet with residents about needs in the city, Denton said.

The Resident Assistance Task Force plans to meet quarterly and keep the conversation going.

Utility Rate Hike Likely Effective in June

At the same time this relief program has been in the works, utility customers across the state are bracing for a surge in higher electric bills from Ameren Illinois, likely starting with the June billing cycle.

The Midwest’s energy supply, less renewable energy sources and the war between Russia and Ukraine are cited as factors.

Mayor Herb Roach, in his weekly column, said local Ameren Illinois representatives contacted the city to make them aware of the developments in the power supply market, and are anticipating a steep increase in the costs of power that will impact what their customers pay for heating and cooling the rest of the year

“Ameren has stated that residential customers could see an increase of at least $50 per month and this will begin to go into effect on the June bills,” Roach said.

More from Roach

He cited significant global events, including the conflict in eastern Europe, an increase in post-pandemic demand, increasing natural gas prices which are strongly correlated with power prices, and the nationwide transition away from fossil fuel generation to renewable generation sources are driving higher costs for the power and natural gas Ameren Illinois delivers to heat, cool, and power homes and businesses in downstate Illinois.

“This news came as a shock to us, especially the drastic increase that our residents could see for their power needs,” he said.

Roach said the city participates in the municipal aggregation program, which fixes the rate at .0439 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for 24 months. This rate will continue for those in the program until it expires in December 2022.

“At that time, we will join thousands of other communities and go out for bid on utility prices,” he said.

‘Important to have a choice’

Roach said in the community’s aggregation program, residents are not required to sign a contract and will not be contacted by a salesperson.

“If you are approached by an electric marketer, please be aware that it is not part of O’Fallon’s electrical aggregation program,” he said. “There is no risk for the residents and no contracts, but we still feel that it is important to have a choice in whether to participate or not, so if you ever feel that this is not a good choice, you can switch back to Ameren or any other vendor at any time by contacting Homefield Energy at 866-694-1262.

Customers who choose to opt out of the aggregation program are subject to a contract lock period and the utility will not allow re-joining the O’Fallon Municipal Aggregation Program for 12 months.

New residential electric customers or residents who are uncertain if they are enrolled in the city’s program, should contact Homefield Energy.

Finance Director Sandy Evans can also be reached at 618-624-4500, ext. 8723, or sevans@ofallon.org.