Customer Crisis Fund

No, this program is available to all residential customers who are facing a temporary financial emergency, regardless of your family's income or whether you currently receive other forms of assistance. You may be required to demonstrate financial need to determine your eligibility for a grant, as you need to be having trouble paying your BC Hydro bills and facing disconnection to be eligible.

Only the main residential account holder can make an application to receive a grant for their primary residence.

If you're not the account holder (for example, a tenant who pays a landlord for the BC Hydro bill in the landlord's name), you aren't eligible to apply.

However, you can apply on behalf of another qualified account holder if you're acting as their authorized representative (e.g. assisting an elderly parent).

If your application is successful, we'll apply a grant amount equal to your overdue balance directly to your BC Hydro account. The maximum you can receive is $800 (for electrically heated homes) or up to $700 (for non-electrically heated homes), but your total grant will depend on your amount owing. For example, if your overdue balance is $375, you may be eligible for a grant of $375.

Typically, we're able to process a grant application within 21 days. Note that if your application is on hold, the processing time doesn't begin until your account has payments overdue by at least 21 days or is facing disconnection. Your service won't be disconnected while we review or process your application. Applying online is the fastest way to have your application reviewed.

No, if you have a pending CCF application, you won’t be disconnected while we evaluate your application. Once we receive your application, a hold will be placed on your account to prevent disconnection of your service while we process your application. Once a decision is made related to your CCF application, the hold on your account will be removed.

Applying online is the fastest way to have your application reviewed.

No, you'll only receive a grant up to the amount of your arrears (amount owing). You'll be eligible to apply for a grant again in 12 months.

You may apply to receive a grant once per year, i.e. 12 months from the claim date of your successful application from the previous year. For example, if you receive a grant in September 2018, you would be eligible to receive another grant in September 2019.

If your application was denied and your circumstances change, you may apply again within the same year.

If your application is approved, the grant amount will be applied directly to your BC Hydro account against your arrears (amount owing). You don't need to pay it back.

Please note that your application may be selected for a random audit where we request additional documentation. If you're selected for an audit and you're unable or unwilling to provide the necessary documentation, then the CCF grant may be reversed and the credit removed from your bill.

Customer Crisis Fund grants can't be used for security deposits. You'll receive your security deposit back after two years of on-time payments, so we can't offer a grant to cover it. There may be other options available to you instead of a security deposit such as a letter from another utility or having another customer act as a guarantor. Learn more.

Your equal payment plan adjustment may be considered as part of your CCF grant application. Receiving an unexpected annual adjustment from an equal payment plan doesn’t qualify as a crisis on its own, and will not be eligible for a CCF grant on its own. That's because for equal payment plans, you'll see a summary of how much electricity you're using and how much you've paid on each bill, so your adjustment wouldn't be an unexpected expense. We also make adjustments to your payment amount at regular intervals if it doesn't match well with the amount of electricity you're using.

However, if you're experiencing a temporary financial crisis for other reasons, the amount of your annual adjustment will be considered part of your total amount owing (arrears) and would be considered in evaluating your eligibility and a grant amount.

If you're facing a large annual adjustment from your plan, please contact our customer team to discuss other options to pay the amount owing, such as an installment plan.

If you're is facing a temporary financial hardship due to job loss, illness, or loss of wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be eligible for the Customer Crisis Fund (CCF).

You must meet all other eligibility criteria. CCF applications are completed online. If CCF is not applicable to you, consider setting up an installment plan by calling 1 800 BCHYDRO (1 800 224 9376).

Yes, if you feel your CCF application was denied in error, contact our customer team at 1 800 BCHYDRO (1 800 224 9376) to escalate your request and it will be reviewed by our escalation team.

An audit is a check that we do on a small number of successful grant applications, where we request documentation to verify information that was provided on the application form. The audit process helps to reduce fraudulent applications so that the program funding is available to the people who need it. Applications are selected for an audit through an anonymous, random process.

During the audit process, we may request documents that verify the information you provided on your application form such as a Notice of Assessment, a bank statement, or verification that you or an individual at the address are participating in an income or housing assistance program. The type of documentation that we request will depend on your specific situation.

Your application may be selected for a random audit anytime for 36 months (3 years) after you receive a grant. Please retain any documentation that you need to support your application for 36 months (3 years).

If you don't wish to provide the requested information, we will need to reverse the grant amount. If you no longer have access to the documentation required, or it's insufficient, we’ll discuss other options with you to verify your application.