Lifespan Helping Elderly Customers Worried about High RG&E Bills

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Lifespan Helping Elderly Customers Worried about High RG&E Bills.

News10NBC has been reporting on big surprise bills that RG&E customers have been getting hit with and the many hours many people have been forced to wait on hold to get through to customer service for help.  Our older population is particularly frustrated and Lifespan has been trying to do what it can to help.

See our stories about RG&E billing issues:

• Public hearings begin on RG&E and NYSEG rate hike requests
• RG&E president responds to billing issues and PSC penalty
• RG&E penalized $900,000 for missing bill service quality metric
• Hilton Man Gets $7,622 Bill from RG&E
• RG&E will host four informational sessions about new smart meters
• RG&E and NYSEG to begin installing smart meters across the region
• President of RG&E: “We’re working on ways to make billing more efficient”
• Good Question: What’s behind RG&E billing issues?
• RG&E will host four informational sessions about new smart meters
• An Irondequoit man’s big RG&E bill spurs a call to News10NBC
• ‘We were shocked’: Marion family facing nearly $1K utility bill
• RG&E offers help, suggestions for customers stunned by big bills

While most families live on a budget, those on very fixed incomes, like older adults, are already struggling with bigger utility bills and we’re not into the winter heating season yet.  “We’ve received a lot of calls about it,” says Ann Marie Cook, the CEO of Lifespan. 

The calls are coming from upset older adults on fixed incomes who’ve gotten unexpected and unmanageable big bills, “we will help older adults who have real concerns with their RG&E bills and connect them right to advocates at RG&E so they’re not on hold for hours, so that we can solve some of these problems or at least get an answer for them if they have a question,” Cook says. 

Making matters worse is that we’re heading into heating season and as News10NBC reported earlier this week, utilities across the state are warning customers of major price increases on the supply side of the bill, “this is just one more cost increasing on top of a lot of things that are going on,” Cook says, “it’s really making many older adults very concerned that they’re not going to make it by the end of the month, we’re worried and we’re working with them as best we can.”

Low income older-adults and families may qualify for HEAP payments in order to help off-set heating bills this winter.  Typically, HEAP opens for applications on October 1^st.  For more information, visit: https://otda.ny.gov/programs/heap/