TXU Energy to assist customers, local health clinic

Monday, September 22, 2008

In a move applauded by local officials Monday, TXU Energy announced financial assistance for Nacogdoches customers and awarded a grant to a local health clinic to defray recovery costs brought on by Hurricane Ike.

TXU Energy will assist area customers affected by Hurricane Ike with relaxations on their energy bills. The company will also award $2,000 to the East Texas Community Health Services clinic to replace insulin and other medicine that spoiled during power outages resulting from Hurricane Ike.

At a press conference at the clinic on Monday, Kelli Rod, TXU vice president of community relations, explained some payment options available to affected customers, including extensions on due dates, waiver of late fees, expansion of summer customer protections and payment in installments. The assistance will be available at least through Nov. 1. Customers interested in the assistance should call 1-866-225-5898. Customers can also dial 211 to receive payment assistance through TXU Energy Aid.

"Hurricane Ike was more than any of us expected it to be. Everybody's trying to put their life back together," Rod said, urging anyone in need to call the hot line "because it's a great way to make your bill in a place that's manageable through a tough time."

For East Texas Community Health Services, which provided medical assistance at evacuee clinics after the storm, assistance from TXU energy will help them reach more people, Robin Moore, the clinic's CEO, said.

"It's going to be tremendously helpful to us to replace the medications that may have been lost," she said. "The fact that the people we serve are mostly uninsured or on Medicare or Medicaid with a fixed income means that this helps us help then even more."

TXU learned about the clinic's need for financial assistance through Bruce Partain, president and CEO of the Nacogdoches County Chamber of commerce. Partain said the cooperation was especially fitting, given the circumstances of the hurricane.

"I just thought it was a good fit, because TXU is in here doing things for people who are actually outside their service area. And East Texas Community Health Services is taking care of people also who are really just guests in their town, and yet they're more than happy to do it," Partain said.

State Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, was present to thank TXU energy, calling them good corporate neighbors.

"A lot of time in this day and age, you think big corporations are just in it for the money. When it comes down to it, this shows what America is about. It shows what our neighbors are about. TXU is one example," Christian said. "That's what's great about America. You realize that a corporation is not anything but a lot of your friends and mine."

County Judge Joe English, Commissioner Reggie Cotton and City Manager Jim Jeffers were also present for the announcement.

TXU Energy serves 2.1 million customers in Texas.

By: Matthew Stoff, The Daily Sentinel