To ensure that residents suffering financial hardship to do not lose access to essential services when the water and sewer moratoriums established by P.L. 2021, c. 317 and the gas and electric Winter Termination Program end on March 15, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and Board of Public Utilities (BPU) are asking that every utility, private or public, including those operated by our municipal governments, refrain from disconnecting service, or enforcing liens for non-payment, for customers who have applications for assistance pending.
DCA will make available to every utility on a bi-weekly basis a list of all the utility’s customers who have LIHWAP, LIHEAP, or USF applications pending. Each utility is asked to inform Program Manager Fidel Ekhelar at fidel.ekhelar@dca.nj.gov of an appropriate contact person (name, email, phone number) to receive the list.
DCA, DEP, and BPU also call upon all water systems that have not yet done so to execute vendor agreements for the LIHWAP program so that eligible customers may receive assistance in paying off their water and wastewater arrearages, and so that the utilities may benefit from receiving these federal funds. Please contact Fidel Ekhelar at fidel.ekhelar@dca.nj.gov to execute the agreement or with any questions.
We encourage you provide information on the various utility assistance programs to all customers. More information can be found at: Application Period Now Open for Low Income Household Water Assistance Program. The portal for submitting an application for utility assistance can be found at: DCAid Services - Custom Portal.
P.L. 2021, c. 97 requires all local governments providing water, sewer, and electric service to notify residential customers of available ratepayer relief measures including LIHWAP. A model notice informing residential ratepayers of LIHWAP is available at: https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dlgs/resources/misc_docs/Model%20COVID-19%20Ratepayer%20Relief%20Notice.docx. P.L. 2021, c. 317 also obligates local governments
to offer residential ratepayers installment plans for arrearages accruing between March 9, 2020 and March 15, 2022. For residential customers accepted into LIHWAP, local governments may also need to offer installment plans on arrearages accruing after March 15, 2022. Please review Local Finance Notice 2022-09, available at:
https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dlgs/lfns/22/2022-09.pdf, for additional information on LIHWAP, installment plans, and residential ratepayer notices.