Customers Benefit From New Entergy Platform To Access Federal Bill Payment Assistance

While the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program offers energy bill payment assistance, the typical application process is cumbersome, paper based and error prone – meaning it can take days, weeks or even months for qualifying individuals to receive the help they need.

Statewide online applications are limited within our service areas spanning Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Consequently, applying often requires traveling to community action agencies, which leaves many people in need yearning for faster and less burdensome financial assistance options.

The pandemic exacerbated these frictions, introduced health and safety concerns and widened the scope of LIHEAP-eligible households due to unemployment and rising need. We quickly recognized that the status quo was no longer acceptable. The LIHEAP application process was primed for improvement.

Our digital LIHEAP application tool

Our service areas encompass some of the country’s largest pockets of poverty. This stark reality drives us to do more for our customers. To ease the burden, and in collaboration with external partners, we assembled a multi-disciplinary task force to explore solutions to connect customers to LIHEAP and simplify the application process.

Through this effort, our digital LIHEAP application tool was born. The user-friendly platform empowers our customers to apply at getLIHEAP.com from anywhere, on any device – thus no longer requiring their physical presence at community action agencies. The platform also offers community action agency-specific modules that simplify caseworkers' application reviews and determinations.

Using a phased innovation approach, we first launched a limited pilot at one community action agency with 15 customers in Arkansas. Using what we learned, we have continuously built, measured and enhanced the application tool to better meet customer and caseworker needs. The platform is now operational at five Arkansas community action agencies. It has helped thousands of low-income Arkansas households with accessing federal funds to cover their energy bills.

We have also leveraged the technology to solve other customer needs. In the summer of 2022, soaring natural gas prices, peak inflation rates, extreme weather events, record temperatures and mounting energy usage plagued the U.S. power and utilities sector – producing some of the highest electric bills our nation has ever seen. As a result, thousands of Entergy-powered households faced financial strain. In a matter of weeks, we adapted the digital LIHEAP application platform to help administer a novel direct bill payment assistance program to low- to moderate-income customers, including those who do not qualify for programs like LIHEAP.

We are continuously exploring new opportunities to help our customers thrive. To learn more about how we're innovating to make customers more successful, visit keystringlabs.entergy.com.