 Good afternoon everyone and welcome to Hamilton Health Center. We are really honored and pleased to have the opportunity today to have the Governor here and Secretary Dallas, Commissioner of the PUC here as well. This is a wonderful place to make this announcement because Hamilton Health Center is what is called a federally qualified health center. Our mission is to provide services to the underserved population, most of which are certainly either uninsured or low income and have medical assistance. So understanding the needs that they have around energy assistance is really critical for them. So without further ado I'd like to introduce to you Tim Dahl, the PPL representative. Good afternoon. My name is Tim Dahl. I'm Manager of Regulatory Programs at PPL Electric. So I oversee programs and services for low-income customers. We spend approximately 85 million dollars a year through weatherization special assistance program and LIHEAP was one of those critical partnership programs. We've been supporting LIHEAP since 1981. We've been lobbying Congress for adequate funding, working with DHS, the PUC to outreach to help people. And it's really an important program for us. Last year, 30,000 of our low-income customers received about 8.5 million of LIHEAP assistance. And that's really important to help them maintain their electric service, to help them get service reconnected if it were shut off for non-payment. This is just a great partnership program for us to tie in with our other programs. For example, we can take our hardship fund and expand that saying, hey, I can make a referral to LIHEAP so we can stretch our dollars more. It's just really great and wonderful coordination. And I just like to say how important this program is, how great the cooperation we get from DHS. And also they've not stood still. They've made improvements to the program over the years, automated, have done a lot of things to help us better serve our customers. So thanks for being here today. This is an important event for us to help promote LIHEAP. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Yvette Belford, and I work at UGI Utilities. I supervise the customer outreach department at UGI. And before I get started today, I'd just like to take a moment to give you a little bit of background. I was hired, and I can't believe I'm going to say this number, but 18 years ago by UGI Utilities. And my very first job at UGI was a temporary LIHEAP personnel. So I was hired and my sole purpose at UGI was to help promote LIHEAP. Fast forward 19 years, and I now oversee the department that administers all of UGI's low income programs. So to say that I'm dedicated and passionate about LIHEAP would be an understatement because it's really where I started my career at UGI. So what does UGI do to promote LIHEAP? We hire seasonal staff. So 19 years later, we're still hiring staff to promote the program. We've established a dedicated phone line for our LIHEAP agencies. So when our LIHEAP agencies contact UGI, they're calling into a direct number where they can reach representatives that are dedicated to answer their questions. We train all customer-facing employees on LIHEAP and the programs that are offered by UGI. And a show and tell item. Tissue box. So this tissue box we give to our call center employees, and it has important LIHEAP information on it. And they've come to love it. So every year they see me walking down the hallway, they're like, you bet, where's my tissue box? So they're looking forward to it. But this has information on the local county offices and the phone numbers. It has the income guidelines. So it's a tool that they all have at their desk and at their fingertips to help promote LIHEAP. And as a reminder to talk about it to the customers as they have them on the phone. What else do we do to promote LIHEAP? I'm here with Mr. Joe Swope today. And we recently did a press release to announce the program. Of course, we update UGI's website. We add information into our bill inserts or billing information to include LIHEAP updates. We also provide a detailed article on UGI's bill communication to talk specifically about the program. One of the other things that we do are customer campaigns. So it's interesting because we have this group of low income customers that, as Tim mentioned, are participating in other programs offered by UGI. And we dedicate our resources to make sure that those customers know that LIHEAP is open. So today's the first day of LIHEAP, which is why we're all here. And today we're mailing out 1600 applications to customers that we've already determined need information on the program or qualify for the program and are looking forward to receiving their LIHEAP application. We also contact customers via dialer campaigns. So we promote the program via campaigns, not only in our bills, but also via phone. And why do we do this? Well, of course, to help our customers. Recently, I heard the story of an 81 year old customer who was really struggling. She had a fire in her home. She had recently suffered a heart attack and had no idea that these programs were available to help her. So we were able to connect her with LIHEAP. She received the LIHEAP grant for the first time last season. And she also received our customer assistance program. So now she's participating in two programs and she contacted our department to express her gratitude for these programs. She said that with all the stresses in her life, she was very grateful to UGI and grateful for the fact that she had this program to help her. So hopefully 19 years from now, I'll still be promoting these programs and helping UGI have our customers apply for these program benefits. And with that, it's my pleasure to introduce Chairman Gladys Brown, who's going to discuss PUC's role in this process. Thank you. Good afternoon. It's truly a pleasure to be here today to launch the LIHEAP program with Secretary Dallas and Governor Woof. We know that through our efforts at the PUC, this is one of our important programs that we talk about as well. We have a campaign that we discussed each year at the beginning of the winter heating season called the Prepare Now campaign. And with it, we talk about the LIHEAP program. We urge our consumers to reach out to the utility companies to prepare now for options in terms of what they could do to make sure that they can pay their heating bills throughout the winter heating season. We know when we talk about a week that is talking about 70 degree temperatures, people kind of think they have more time. But now is the time in terms of reaching out to your utility companies to talk to them about the options that you have available for them. We also urge our utility companies to be flexible with their consumers that purchase utilities from them. Make sure that they have all the options available to them as well. We know that many of the utility companies have hardship programs, provide the information to them. We also have that information on our website so people can reach out to the PUC not only through our Bureau of Consumer Services, but also on our website, which is the pa.puc.gov website. There's so many different websites in my head. We also have our phwitch.com website, which also has similar information as well. So I am grateful today to be here and the PUC stands supportive of the LIHEAP program, providing that type of information to consumers. And now I have the opportunity to introduce Representative Patty Kim, who represents the 103rd district here in the Harrisburg area. Thank you, Chairwoman. I want to thank the Governor, the Secretary, and the PUC Chairwoman for communicating to the public about this important program. LIHEAP benefits some of the most vulnerable constituents and will provide much-needed resources this winter. No one can predict when they will fall on a hard time, so it's good to let people know of this program in advance and where to sign up. My office stands ready to help residents of the 103rd district with LIHEAP along with Senator Teplitz's office, who also represents Harrisburg and Brian Humphries here representing Senator Teplitz's office. I am praying for no polar vortexes this winter. Last year, my good-hearted staff members bought space heaters with their own money and delivered to people without heat. We let them borrow the space heaters while we worked on the paperwork, the details of LIHEAP, and waited for their heat to turn back on. That's unnecessary and a very stressful situation, so residents need to plan ahead to avoid these types of periods without heat, especially if you have seniors and children living in your homes. Again, I'm excited to be here with such an important program. I'd like to call up the Secretary of Human Services, dead towels, discuss more about the importance of LIHEAP. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, everybody. First, let me say thank you to the Hamilton Clinic for hosting us here today and also to our partners at PPL and UGI and other folks. We literally couldn't do it without you. LIHEAP is a vitally important program, and I think folks know generally what LIHEAP does, but sometimes we lose a little bit of what it means on a human level. So I'd ask you, when you think about LIHEAP, just to imagine what it must be like if you're a mother who's staying home with her children, who are, you know, a child who's disabled, may have intellectual or physical disabilities and you're living in Tawanda and it gets cold, or you're a senior citizen in East Strausberg, or you're a mother who has children under five in Wilkinsburg. LIHEAP is a vital program for folks. It's a lifeline for folks. If you think about what it takes for them on a daily basis to make ends meet, and then as the weather starts to get cold, today's probably not a great day to talk about it because it's actually pretty nice out, but when it starts to get cold, those heating bills coming and folks knowing what that means for them and knowing that LIHEAP's an option out there. It makes all the difference for them, and it's a program that we're very happy to work with our federal partners to administer. So now if you think about that, whether it's the 6,500 people right here in Dauphin County who get LIHEAP or 400,000 people across the state who get LIHEAP, you know what a difference it makes for folks. I get emails from people saying, thank you so much for it. I have whether they heat their homes with wood, they have electricity or they have gas, LIHEAP is literally a lifeline for them. Now the other big message we wanted to have today was to get ready, right? Right now today it's I think it's in the fifth, the 60s or so, and it's pretty warm out, and people might have a tendency to say, you know what, I have time, but it takes time to become eligible for LIHEAP. It takes time for us to process that paperwork, and you don't want to be coming to us when things are cold or when that polar vortex is there. So please, please, please, if you think you might be eligible for LIHEAP or you applied for in the past, please come to us now so we can get you ready for the winter. We've already also taken a step in that direction. We have a program called Turn On, which we've looked at folks across the state who received LIHEAP from us before, who are looking at our and doing some data checks. We've seen that they have either a utility shut off or they're in danger of having their utility shut off. And so far we've identified about 9100 people that we were able to get them an early advance grant and make sure that they were prepared for the winter. So please don't wait for us to do that. We'll be out there looking and we'll be looking for other folks that we can reach early. But even though it's warm outside, please, please get to us early and help us get you ready for the winter season. So with that, it's my honor and privilege to introduce the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the honorable Tom Wolfe. Okay, I think everything has been said, so I won't be too long, but let me just answer two questions. What is LIHEAP and mainly where does the money come from? I realize we still are working on a budget. And why do we do it? First of all, LIHEAP is the low income home energy assistance program. And it really is to help our neighbors make sure they're ready for the cold weather that's coming. Now, as you've heard, this is sort of a tough day. There's an irony to the fact that the weather outside is so nice. I think we're going to have 70 degree days for the next couple of days. This is the time to really think about cold weather because it is coming. And we're going to need to have this program in place. And it comes from a federal grant $3 billion for all the states. Pennsylvania, I think last year used about $180 million and we helped 400,000 people to make sure they were ready for the cold weather. Actually, in some cases, for the very hot weather in the summer. But we want to make sure that our neighbors, for whatever reason, when they need this, they have it. And again, think about what occasion is this? It could be a disability. It could be an unforeseen accident or a health crisis. It could be the loss of a job. It could be because you have children who have a immediate need for heat. And we don't want people in Pennsylvania to have to choose between heat, medical assistance, and food. We want them to have this. So this is what neighbors do for neighbors. And we, through our democratically elected government, are trying to be a good neighbor on behalf of all Pennsylvanians for those who will need this, this winter. Again, last year 400,000 people needed it. Now, 15% of this actually goes to the Department of Community and Economic Development for weatherization programs. And that means we're not just reacting to something that happened. We're also trying to prevent people from having too little heat when the weather gets cold by weatherizing their homes. And that's money that goes into our economies. It goes to HVAC suppliers, plumbers in our neighborhoods. And it also serves the national purpose of actually making us more self-sufficient when it comes to energy. We're doing a better job of preparing for cold weather, not just responding and reacting to it. So this is really important. It's what you do for neighbors. We're trying to do a good job here with the $180 million or so that we'll be using here in Pennsylvania. And I think we're going to make lives better for the people who need it most when the cold weather does hit. So again, I want to say thank you to the Hamilton Center for hosting us here. And I want to thank partners like PPL, UGI, and the others who help us deliver on the promise of a warm home or an adequately cool home in the summertime so that our fellow Pennsylvanians can live the lives we want them to live. So thank you again for coming out. Today is the day we start this. It's a warm day, but it's going to get cold. Now's the time to start enrolling in this really important program for all of us. Thank you very much.