The Arab Tribune

Arab Electric Cooperative, TVA and the Arab Emergency Relief Fund have come together to help those who need assistance paying their electric bills.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has established the COVID-19 Community Care Fund to assist non-profit organizations such as the Arab Emergency Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to TVA power providers like AEC to help customers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

TVA donated $10,000 to the Arab Emergency Relief Fund. That $10,000 was matched by Arab Electric Cooperative.

That $20,000 is being administered by the Arab Emergency Relief Committee.

To qualify to receive funding, residents must be a customer of Arab Electric Cooperative and have a past due bill – either residential or small business.

Residential customers can qualify for a one-time assistance of $200 and small businesses can qualify for a one-time assistance of up to $400.

“Electric co-ops are built by, and belong to, the communities we serve,” said AEC general manager Stacey White. “Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve worked to support families and businesses throughout our community.”

To see if you qualify for assistance from Arab Emergency Relief, call:

• 256-586-3196, option 2.

Note: Tribune editor Charles Whisenant is a member of the Arab Electric Cooperative board of trustees.