I am not writing this to sell anything, or to profit from it, but this week while working at the Electric Company, I saw a girl come in with a young baby and her power was turned off due to non pay. She was crying but rules prevented us from reconnecting her without her paying the high bill. Could we of been taking her whole pay check that she was going to use for food or gas? I don't know. But it prompted me to write and tell you there may be help available for you.

With the higher prices of gas everything is rising. Electric companies are looking a raising their prices 10%-18% or more at the first chance they get. Many people on a fixed income are the ones having the hardest time. And everyone is having problems budgeting with the new higher costs.

Your electric bill. It can be fairly high if you use air conditioning or heat depending on where you live. It can vary month to month drastically.

Since working at the Electric Company, I have seen bills vary in great degree. I also learned of different agencies that will help you if you have problems paying your bill. Usually if you are facing disconnection of your service you can get help from these agencies. Each one has different requirements so you will need to check with them if you need help.

Read on if you have problems paying your bill, prevent disconnection of your service by trying all your options before the disconnection date.

Salvation Army: The Salvation Army will sometimes pay your past due bill to prevent you from being disconnected from electric. Almost every town has a Salvation Army that will help. They will not send you the money, but instead will make the arrangements with the Electric Company to pay the bill to prevent disconnection of services. Sometimes you will have to have a disconnect notice before they will get involved. Usually when you get the disconnection notice you will have 10 days from the date of the notice before they will disconnect you.

Local Churches: Local Churches will sometimes help out and pay the past due payment just like the Salvation Army. Calling local Churches will answer your questions.

Other Resources in your town: Calling the local Department of Social Services will give you other places that may pay your bill.

The Electric Company itself: Yes.... They know what agencies in the community willing to pay bills to prevent disconnection. After all they are the ones that will collect the money so they know who helps out. Sometimes they will have places that you never even thought of. They know who you could contact.

Ok you got your disconnection notice for electric. You have no money before that date, what can you do?

First call the Electric Company - Ask what is the latest possible date that you can pay it. Sometimes you can get an extension on the bill. Paying it later than the date they give you. They may have a limit on how many times a year you can get extensions but if you are having problems, use these when you need to.

Maybe your bill is too high to pay in one month, ask if you can make payments on the bill over several months. If the Customer service representative says a flat out NO, ask to speak the supervisor or the manager to plead your case. They have the ability to sometimes extend the bills with certain circumstances.

Always call if you know you can't pay the bill. This will prevent your services from being disconnected and then it will cost you more to get them turned back on. The electric company has options that they can work out a payment plan for you.

If someone in your home is dependent on electric for medical reasons, ALWAYS let the Electric Company know this. There may be laws in your state that will prevent them from disconnecting your services. You may have to have a doctor's statement but it will at least help with the electric company services.

Do you have a family member that may be able to pay the bill in case you can't? You can ask if they can send a copy of deliquent notices to another place also alerting them. Or if you have elderly parents, you can call the electric company as ask to have a notice sent to you if they are at risk of being disconnected for service.

Most Electric Companies have a budget plan that will give you equal monthly payments for your bill. This is great if you are on a budget and this will help you out budgeting throughout the month.

How the budget is determined: Usually they take the last 12 months of service and get the average. If you haven't lived there for 12 months, they may take the previous resident's bill and get the average. This may not even be close to your monthly usage.

Things you need to be aware of: If you use more than the budget amount, this will be due at one lump sum at the end of the term. (usually a year). If you see that you are using more services than you are budgeted for - try to pay more during the year to prevent this large bill. You could be disconnected if you don't pay this lump sum at the end of the year.

There are several ways you can use less electric. I see people in apartments living right next to each other that have a huge difference in bills. One wastes electric, one conserves.

Hot Water Tank: Add a timer to your tank to shut it off when no one is home, then to turn it back on before you will need the water.

Turn off appliances when not in use. Unplug what you can. Using power strips you can turn off many things at one flick of a switch. Turning off your computer it will still use power. Turn off your computer than hit the power switch on the power strip to stop electric going to it.

Unplug things you don't use all the time. You may use your coffeepot once a day, but keep it plugged in all day with the time flashing using power that you don't need. Sure it may be just one appliance but if you have several appliances doing that it will add up.

Use more Natural Light: Open the blinds and curtains when the sun is out, during the hottest part of the day you will want to keep them closed, but in the evenings you can open them and add a few more minutes of daylight inside and less need for the lights.