Higher demand for more utility bill help expected in Monument
The bills are coming due, and are harder to afford, for many people in the Monument area who relied heavily on electric or gas heat this past winter.
Some customers said their bills are two to five times higher, creating a tough situation for around 900 people on fixed incomes.
“I have a three-bedroom mobile home, and they seem to use utilities a little bit more than your average house,” said Barbara Shean, 79, of Palmer Lake. “It could vary anywhere from $90 to $110. I kept the heat cranked!”
So did Patrick Maerky, of Monument.
“I didn’t need assistance, luckily,” he said. “But I did have to work extra. At least an extra FIVE to 10 hours a week. I picked up extra work. It wasn’t easy.”
LEAP, a federally funded assistance program, helps people who have trouble paying their winter utility bills. The program is administered in the Monument area by Tri-Lakes Cares.
Haley Chaplin, executive director of Tri-Lakes, said the agency normally has between 900 and 1,200 clients who need food and other social services.
“This year, we’re more toward the low end,” she said. “But we anticipate seeing a significant increase in the amount of heating bills and the number of people needing assistance. To spread the money out, we may end up with just partial payments of bills.”
Monument’s 7,000-feet elevation make winters colder and harsher than in Colorado Springs and other local cities at lower elevations.
In a related matter, Chaplin said the small number of homeless people in the Monument area is holding steady and not increasing, as it is in and around Colorado Springs.
Chaplin cited two reasons.
“We don’t have a shelter, soup kitchen or any of those resources you’ll find in the Springs,” she said. “And we don’t have public transportation to get homeless people to and from those resources.”
Chaplin said the local homeless population isn’t visible to most residents, and there are far fewer problems with trespassing, illegal camping, trash and loitering.
