Assistance with Utility Bills

The objective of this program is to prevent the disconnection of power, gas, or water utilities, or if already disconnected, to help with re-connection as soon as possible.

1. Must be a Spotsylvania County resident. Utility to be paid must be for the property that is the personal residence of the client (owned or rented). Please arrive at SECA between 9:30 am and 12:00 noon for utility bill assistance.
2. To be eligible for utility assistance, the client must not have received financial assistance from SECA within the past 6 months.
3. Eligible utilities include power, gas, and water service.
4. Must visit SECA, complete an Assistance Request form, and present I.D. along with a paper copy of the most recent utility bill and any subsequent correspondence or notices which must include a termination date and the specific amount needed to avoid disconnection (or restore service).
5. We provide payment if/when the full amount required to maintain or restore service is covered (paid or pledged by you, SECA, and/or one or more acceptable outside organizations). Our limit is $200.00 per occasion and SECA can provide “same day”* payment for approved amounts up to that limit.
6. If more than $200.00 is needed, the client will be asked to pay the excess if “same day”* payment is needed (Sometimes a friend or family member may be able to help make this happen.). If this is not possible, we will issue a written pledge, valid for 30 days, to pay $200.00 once the full amount is covered. We can provide a list of other local organizations that provide various types of assistance for help with paying the rest of the bill. Once the total has been paid or pledged (including SECA and others), funds will be paid to the utility.
7. If using sources other than SECA for part of the bill payment and we have issued a pledge, you must call us during the dates and hours we are open for Assistance (and before the disconnection date) to furnish the names and amounts of other sources that have pledged or paid (with confirmation numbers for paid amounts) before we will send payment.
8. Assistance is provided “per address.”
9. Eligible clients may receive assistance with more than one service in the same visit (e.g. utility, food, and clothing).

*We send utility payments for clients several times a month and coordinate directly with utilities. Once we advise them of a pending payment, they will treat it as if paid that day for disconnection or re-connection purposes but it is likely that the utility will actually receive funds several days thereafter.

**Please note that all decisions relating to any assistance rests solely with SECA and its representatives.

We regret we do not have funds to assist with rent.