{"id":32859,"date":"2026-03-13T13:59:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T18:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=32859"},"modified":"2026-03-13T13:59:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T18:59:23","slug":"energy-bill-payment-assistance-through-warm-neighbors-cool-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/32859-energy-bill-payment-assistance-through-warm-neighbors-cool-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Bill Payment Assistance Through Warm Neighbors Cool Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>The Energy Assistance Foundation, through its Warm Neighbors Cool Friends (WNCF) program, partners with CEFS Economic Opportunity to provide energy bill payment assistance to eligible Ameren Illinois customers in Christian, Clay, Effingham, Fayette, Montgomery, Moultrie and Shelby counties. In December 2025, Ameren Illinois contributed an additional $2 million to support Illinois households in 2026\u2014ensuring more families can keep the lights on, stay warm in the winter, and cool in the summer.<\/p>\n<p>Through this program, eligible households may receive:<br \/>\n\uf0b7 Up to $500 in assistance during the heating season<br \/>\n\uf0b7 Up to $400 during the cooling season<\/p>\n<p>A matching customer payment made within the last 45 days is required. The WNCF program serves income-qualified households who may not qualify for federal assistance but are still facing real financial strain. Eligibility includes customers with household incomes between 200% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or up to 80% of the county\u2019s Area Median Income (AMI).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis program is about peace of mind,\u201d said Susan Sams, Executive Director of the Energy Assistance Foundation. \u201cWarm Neighbors Cool Friends is a critical lifeline for hardworking families who are doing their best but still need help covering essential energy costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Funding is limited and applications are required. Residents are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to ensure they don\u2019t miss out on available assistance.<\/p>\n<p>For more information and to apply visit www.warmneighborscoolfriends.org\/ OR http:\/\/www.cefseoc.org\/liheap<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Energy Assistance Foundation, through its Warm Neighbors Cool Friends (WNCF) program, partners with CEFS Economic Opportunity to provide energy bill payment assistance to eligible Ameren Illinois customers in Christian, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Energy Bill Payment Assistance Through Warm Neighbors Cool Friends - 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