In just the first seven months of 2026, PCSI matched and surpassed our full-year 2025 impact through the Dollar Energy Fund. From January 1 through July 31, 2026, 433 households received utility assistance totaling $211,428. By comparison, during all of 2025, 433 households received $202,865 in assistance.
This means that by July, we had already successfully assisted the same number of households served as the previous full year and delivered more total assistance on their behalf.
What changed? Three key shifts helped drive this growth:
- We can now help customers apply for LIHEAP and the Dollar Energy Fund in one session. Instead of asking customers to leave, complete LIHEAP elsewhere, and return to us, we can support the full process at once, reducing barriers and moving applications forward more quickly.
- Utilities are referring customers directly to PCSI. Columbia Gas, Peoples Gas, and PWSA are all sending customers to us, and they have added PCSI as an agency that can enroll customers in their Consumer Assistance Plans. This allows us to provide more comprehensive utility support in one place.
- We increased internal efficiency. A new Jotform now requests required documents up front, reducing time spent following up with customers for missing information. Our Case Manager Ferdaouss also took on the bulk of applications as a “super user,” and her growing expertise helped us apply more effectively and navigate the system with greater confidence.
What’s next? We hope to build on this momentum by expanding our ability to complete CAP applications for additional utilities, helping customers better understand and manage utility use, and advocating for policies that protect hardworking, low-income utility customers. At the same time, we will continue using utility assistance as an entry point to connect people with the broader supports PCSI offers: services that strengthen stability, increase opportunity, and support long-term success.
A recent example shows what this looks like in practice. CH contacted PCSI seeking utility assistance. Ferdaouss helped her maintain her water service through the Dollar Energy Fund. During their initial conversation, Ferdaouss learned that CH was not currently working but wanted to reenter the labor force, so she connected CH with Reggie, our Job Developer & Retention Case Manager, for employment support. Within days, CH received the utility assistance she needed…and a job offer. She is now working from home as a customer service representative and participating in PCSI’s employment retention program.