Utility discounts may be going to people who don’t need them
By Sophia Beausoleil, KXAN, Updated: December 1, 2014, 9:22 pm
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Keeping the lights on can be pricey, and that’s why Austin Energy created the Customer Assistance Program to help reduce utility rates for low-income consumers. But the discounts may not be going to the people who need them.
“I was particularly astounded when I started seeing $1 million homes and $4 million homes on the list and I knew the system needed to be corrected,” said Paul Robbins who has been a consumer advocate and environmental activist in Austin for 37 years.
Robbins said he had heard there were problems with the new automatic enrollment system and decided to check it out for himself. He put in a public information request for the participants in the Customer Assistance Program, reviewed their real estate assets and determined more than 1,100 customers in homes valued more than $300,000 were receiving utility discounts.