Poor Texans left in dark as state electricity aid program ends

[TexasTowelie]

ARLINGTON — North Texas was freezing during a three-day stretch last month, but Mary Garcia refused to turn on the heat in her cramped apartment. She feared that doing so would too quickly drain her pay-as-you-go account with Penstar Power, a Dallas-based electricity provider.

On Dec. 19, with just $15.31 in her account and the outside thermometer showing 27 degrees, Garcia composed a plea to Lite-Up Texas, a state program that had long helped low-income folks pay their electricity bills.

"Please I beg you to bring back this assistance with electricity," she wrote in an email that she inadvertently sent to The Texas Tribune. "I am going to freeze during this cold season."

Garcia is among many poor Texans coming to grips with the loss of support from Lite-Up Texas, which stopped offering its discounts on Aug. 31 because it ran out of money.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/01/05/poor-texans-left-dark-state-electricity-aid-progra/

[Dustlawyer]

1. Good Christians are doing this!!!

[mopinko]

2. the best christian. just the best.

believe me.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. Blankets blankets blankets layers and layers of clothing

I would imagine that people freezing indoors in Texas is pretty rare, but summer without AC can kill you. I lived a winter without heat when I was in college. When I was home, I stayed in bed. It was the warmest place.