To alleviate some of the burdens of this charge, the Brazos bankruptcy exit plan established a rate payer hardship fund. Brazos contributed $140 million to be invested and managed in trust for the program’s benefit and to cover program expenses. The Brazos rate payer hardship fund is a separate entity whose purpose is to compensate low-income members of Brazos distribution co-ops for electric bill surcharges stemming from the securitization and financing transactions. The fund is expected to mitigate 100% of the securitization charge (or comparable amount) for qualifying residential members. An estimated 134,000 households may qualify based on the initial single eligibility criteria of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. LIHEAP is the national gold standard for qualification criteria for electric bill assistance. Applicants may also qualify if they currently participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, or Supplemental Security Income, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs. Benefit qualification will typically last 12 months.

To date, the creation of this fund is complete and they are accepting applications. You may access the online application here at brazoshardshipfund.com. You may also pick up a paper application at any of our office locations.