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W A T E R E N E R G Y L 7 <br />RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES <br />It" • ' W& Board Memorandum <br />P R L I C UTILITT L-5 <br />BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES <br />DATE: OCTOBER 28, 2019 <br />GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORT <br />ITEM NO:14 <br />General Manager's Report on SHARE Program Participation and Customer Resource Center (CRC) <br />Utility Assistance Programs July through August 2019 <br />The SHARE program provided assistance to over 4,400 electric customers and over 1,300 water customers for fiscal - <br />year 18/19. <br />Enhancements for fiscal -year 19/20 include allowing customers that participate in other Federally funded programs such <br />as: Cal -Fresh, SNAP, CalWorks/TANF, LI -HEAP, MediCal/Medicaid, Healthy Familes A&B, National School Lunch <br />Program, SSI, WIC or the Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance to bring their current year award letter to easily <br />qualify for SHARE. Additionally, the monthly assistance increase was approved by Board June 10 and by Council 7/2. <br />Effective July 3, 2019, qualified customers can receive $14.50 per month for their electric bill and $2.50 for their water <br />bill. The SHARE program maintained the once -annual $150 assistance to customers but has limited it to either deposit <br />assistance or emergency assistance for customers that receive a disconnection notice but are unable to pay. <br />Over the first year of the program, enhancement, the total number of customers approved for SHARE assistance is <br />4,414. This represents a year -over -year increase of 2% when compared to 4,319 customers served between July and <br />June 2018. Participation continues to trend similar to prior years despite increasing outreach. Staff believes that this is <br />due to the current economic conditions. <br />Customers Receiving SHARE Assistance by Month <br />700 531 <br />k2600 ~o4 514 <br />E 500 441 <br />283 334 223 <br />° 4 313 272 254 <br />300 255 227200 <br />� 100 <br />0 <br />Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Ap, <br />■ Customers Served FY 18/19 ■ Customers Served FY 19120 <br />The Customer Engagement division opened a location at the Casa Blanca Customer Resource Center to process <br />SHARE, rebate and utilicare applications. Since the soft opening date on July 15, 2019, we have seen a 58% increase <br />in customer traffic for the month of August. The table below is the break down of customer visits: <br />Total Customers <br />SHARE Application <br />SHARE Inquiry <br />Rebate Application <br />Utilicare <br />Other <br />187 <br />85 <br />43 <br />43 <br />13 <br />3 <br />