PPL Montana is helping low-income families who may have a hard time paying their heating bills this winter by donating $50,000 to Energy Share, a statewide energy assistance program.
“Staying warm is a basic need during winter, and for some of our neighbors that’s a struggle this time of year, especially with the economy in a recession and more people out of work,” said David Hoffman, director of External Affairs for PPL Montana. “By supporting Energy Share, PPL Montana is helping people across the state protect themselves and their families.”
Based in Helena, Energy Share of Montana is a private, nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is to help Montanans who don’t qualify for other programs or have exhausted that assistance. For many, Energy Share is the only assistance available to avoid an energy shutoff.
An additional $43,735 in Universal System Benefits funds has been donated to Energy Share by the owners of the Colstrip power plant: PPL Montana, Puget Sound Energy, Avista, NorthWestern Energy, Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp.
These funds are state-mandated contributions that companies can choose to designate for energy conservation, renewable resource projects and applications, or low-income energy assistance.
“With all the cold and snow we’ve had this year, PPL Montana’s donation is coming just in time and will help more than 250 families who have been struggling all winter,” said Tina Shorten, president of Energy Share’s board of directors. “We’re extremely grateful for this additional help in keeping our neighbors warm. Many of the people helped by this donation are seniors living on fixed incomes and families living on the edge of poverty.”
PPL Montana and the Colstrip power plant owners have played a significant role in helping Montana families stay warm since 2006, Hoffman said. In the last two years alone, the combined effort from PPL Montana and its partners has helped more than 530 families.
Since its inception in 1982, Energy Share has distributed $11.5 million in energy assistance to more than 36,500 families. Energy Share is funded solely with private and corporate donations and usually is only available once in the lifetime of the recipient. For more information on Energy Share, call 1-888-779-7589.
PPL Montana provides safe, reliable energy from coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric plants along West Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL Montana and its 500 employees are dedicated to Montana and its communities, supporting educational, environmental and economic development programs across the state. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power for PPL Montana in wholesale and retail energy markets throughout the western United States. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL).