Wyandotte Municipal Services employees Amber Haggerty (left), executive assistant to the general manager, and Heather Zagor (second from left), customer assistance supervisor, speak about the Wyandotte CARES Program during the Dec. 8 City Council meeting.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – The Wyandotte CARES Program was explained during the Dec. 8 City Council meeting by Wyandotte Municipal Service employees.
The local Customer Assistance Residential Electrical Service assistance program is designed to help eligible customers with their electric and heating bills. They must provide proof of service interruption risk, such as a shutoff notice, to be eligible, and have a household income at or below 60 percent of Michigan’s median income.
Proof of residency and proof of income for all household members must be submitted.
The program is only for primary account holders, and customers must pay all current and past due balances until they receive program approval.
There is a fixed amount of money in the fund each year, which is disbursed until it runs out.
Applications for 2025 are closed. To apply online in 2026, go to wyan.org/706/Wyandotte-CARES.
For more information, send an email to wyandottecares@wyandottemi.gov
or go to the city’s website at wyan.org/wyandottecares.
Municipal Services employee Amber Haggerty said the program was created to help residents who are experiencing temporary financial hardships.
“Our mission is simple: to help households keep their essential utility services on and reduce the risk of any interruptions,” she said. “Through this program we provide financial assistance that goes directly onto customers’ accounts.”
Haggerty said the services include help with electric service through Wyandotte Municipal Services and heating bills through DTE.
Program participants remain responsible for their own water bills.
“Wyandotte CARES is here to strengthen our community by helping residents maintain essential utilities while they work toward getting back on their feet,” she said.
Wyandotte Municipal Services employee Heather Zagor said the department is now required by new legislation to disconnect electric services during November through April.
“In the past we were allowed to opt out of this requirement, and our commission voted each year to do so,” she said. “That annual vote will continue every year moving forward.”
Zagor said that with the law change they were given two options: One was to charge each customer $1.25 monthly and to contribute the money to a shared Wayne County pool from which residents could seek assistant, or to create its own local program, eliminate the monthly fee for residents and allow at-risk customers to work directly with Wyandotte Municipal Services.
“We chose to develop our own program, funded through prior years’ leftover energy optimization dollars,” she said. “This allows us to support residents without adding cost to their bills.”
Zagor said that instead of fully disconnecting service immediately, Wyandotte Municipal Services implements load limiters, which supply just enough power for essential needs, like running a furnace and a refrigerator.
“If residents exceed the allowed usage, the power will go off, and then automatically come back on,” she said. “This can happen up to three times, and after the third time the power will remain off until all balances are paid in full.”
Zagor said load limits will only stay in place for seven days after the initial shutoff period, and if the account is not paid off after seven days, service will be fully disconnected until the balance is cleared.
Haggerty said that she believes Wyandotte is the only municipal utility in southeast Michigan using the load limiters to give customers some leeway until they get a paycheck and can settle their bill.
The load limiters permit 15 amps of service, with furnaces requiring about 5 amps after startup and refrigerators requiring about 5 amps, so there is some flexibility to turn on a light or charge a cell phone.
Haggerty said 26 customers have been approved for the program out of 68 who applied. Some of those 68 had incomplete applications.
“Hopefully the word will get out and we can continue to help people who really need assistance,” she said.
Zagor said the Wyandotte CARES program is designed to help residents avoid a shutoff.
“Our goal is to provide early support to keep essential services running and give residents a path to stabilize their accounts while meeting state requirements in a safe and supportive way,” she said.