Gov. Reynolds introduces the Residential Utility Disruption Prevention Program

On Friday, Governor Kim Reynolds introduced a plan for at-risk Iowan families in partnership with the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Together, they have developed the Residential Utility Disruption Prevention Program, which aims to provide up to $2,000 toward electric, natural gas and water bills to eligible households dealing with COVID-19-related loss of income, if they are at risk of having these services disconnected.

This program is made possible by the federal funds per the CARES Act that Iowa received for utility assistance programs. The reported amount that has been acquired by the state is $14.5 million.

Per the website, payments will go directly to the utility providers and will be applied to the applicant’s account, however, residents only have until November 20, or until program funding is depleted to apply.

There is a list of eligibility requirements for interested parties, and include but are not limited to:

A primary Iowa residence with active residential utility accounts, renters may apply as long as the utility account is in the applicant’s name;

An unpaid utility bill balance or have previously entered into a payment plan with their utility provider;

Experienced a COVID-19 loss of income (job loss, reduction in hours, reduction in pay) on or after March 17, 2020 that resulted in hardship in paying bills for electric, natural gas, and/or water utility service provided between March 17, 2020 and October 31, 2020.

At this time, there is no information when approved families would have access to the payment, though the official answer is that it may take weeks to review, with a request that qualifying persons be patient while the information is processed.

For more on the program and its eligibility requirements, go to IowaHousingRecovery.com