Month: February 2024

As executive director of Crisis Control Ministry, Margaret Elliott knows how easy it is for people to fall behind on paying their utility bills, and once things start to snowball, it’s hard to stop those bills from piling up.

She sees it every day at Crisis Control Ministry in Winston-Salem, N.C., which helps people through an emergency financial crisis, providing money, food and other services.

“The majority of the people calling in for financial assistance are calling in for housing and utility needs,” she said. “And that has grown since the pandemic.”

Through Duke Energy’s Share the Light Fund, Elliott’s agency helps customers pay their energy bills. For more than 30 years, the fund has helped customers stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer – times when drastic dips and spikes in temperatures can wreak havoc on energy bills and budgets.

“How can we do good in the community?” said Share the Light Fund Program Manager Viva Webb. “One, being a good community partner, but two, for our customers, how can we help them when they’re struggling or fall behind?”

Share the Light Fund raises money and distributes it to agencies in North Carolina and South Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Florida. Duke Energy customers can apply for aid through those agencies.

In 2023, the Share the Light Fund distributed more than $6 million, helping over 16,000 Duke Energy customers pay their energy bills.

The pandemic provided other challenges for organizations like Crisis Control Ministry, needs that were met in 2023 by the Duke Energy Foundation through capacity building grants.

The grants help agencies build and improve their capacity to help their communities. For Crisis Control Ministry, the $80,000 grant meant a vastly improved phone system.

How to donate to Share the Light Fund

You can help, like Duke Energy employees, and donate to Share the Light Fund.

Paperless Billing customers can donate online when scheduling their monthly Duke Energy payment. Complete the section “Customer Contribution” to make a donation.If you receive a paper bill, you can add a donation when you mail in your monthly payment. Monthly bills have a notation in the upper right-hand corner to mark your donation. Locate the contribution election below the amount due on your payment stub. Write in the amount. Add the contribution amount to your bill payment.Donate by check or money order to Share the Light Fund, Duke Energy, Attn: Central Cash Remittance, P.O. Box 35469, Charlotte, NC 28235.

When the pandemic hit, the agency had to pivot from in-person to phone interviews with clients. But the phone system struggled to handle the number of calls. While the doors have reopened, clients now prefer to connect over the phone – eliminating obstacles like transportation and child care.

“It has given our clients a much better customer service experience, in that they don’t stay on hold forever, they don’t get lost in the queue, they actually have a queue, they can leave their number, we call them back,” Elliott said. “It is phenomenal.”

And Crisis Control Ministry can now help more people.

Elliott is also grateful for her agency’s relationship with Duke Energy.

“I really truly think they value the fact that when people are in a true crisis that they want them to stay in their house and be warm too,” she said. “And to stay cool in the summer.”

Jimmy Flythe, Duke Energy Director of Government and Community Relations for parts of western North Carolina, works with assistance agencies, including Crisis Control Ministry.

Flythe identified agencies to apply for the capacity building grants.

“A lot of these organizations are operating on a shoe-string budget,” he said. “They get funds to help them help their clients but they typically don’t have the funding to improve their ability to serve their clients.”

“We want people to be able to pay their energy bills,” he said, “and recognize when they don’t.”

Said Share the Light Fund Program Manager Webb: “We’re here to help you. Everyone needs power.”

Share the Light Fund agencies and programs vary by state and region.

North Carolina

Duke Energy Carolinas

Eligibility: Must be a Duke Energy Carolinas residential customer; must have a past-due balance, unpaid deposit for utility service or unpaid reconnection charge.

Call the agency in your county to determine if you are eligible for assistance. Duke Energy Carolinas customers can connect with agencies here.

Duke Energy Progress

Eligibility: Must be a Duke Energy Progress residential customer; must have a past-due balance, unpaid deposit for utility service or unpaid reconnection charge.

If you or someone you know needs assistance, call the CARELINE at 800.662.7030.

South Carolina

Duke Energy Carolinas

Eligibility: Must be a Duke Energy Carolinas residential customer; must have a past-due balance, unpaid deposit for utility service or unpaid reconnection charge.

Customers can connect with agencies here.

Duke Energy Progress

Eligibility: Must be a Duke Energy Progress residential customer; must have a past-due balance, unpaid deposit for utility service or unpaid reconnection charge.

Customers can find help here.

Ohio

Share the Light Fund is administered by The Salvation Army. Eligibility is based on need and does not necessarily follow government assistance guidelines.

Share the Light Fund provides one-time assistance to eligible customers to help avoid disconnection or maintain service. Customers who need assistance may complete an online application or call 513.762.5636. Customers can leave a voicemail and will receive a call back within 72 hours.

To qualify, customers: Must be a resident of Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland or Warren counties in southwest Ohio; have a heating account with Duke Energy; be the customer of record at Duke Energy; must have a past-due balance, unpaid deposit for service; or unpaid reconnection charge.

Customers cannot be on the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) Plus program unless funds are still available after March 31.

Clients who live in the following counties should not apply online, but should contact their local Salvation Army here: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Highland and Warren. If there is not a Salvation Army near you, go to your nearest service unit.

Kentucky

Customers may apply for up to $300 in assistance throughout the program year.

Eligibility: Must be a Duke Energy natural gas and/or electric residential customer; household income must be at or below 200% FPL guidelines; must have past-due charges for natural gas or electricity, unpaid deposit; or reconnection charges.

To apply or for more information, call the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission at 859.581.6607.

Indiana

The Indiana Community Action Energy Assistance Program (EAP) provides up to $300 to qualifying Duke Energy customers’ accounts to pay energy bills, deposits and reconnection/connection charges.

For details and eligibility, contact your local EAP agency.

Florida

Eligibility: Must be a Duke Energy residential customer; must have a past-due balance, unpaid deposit for utility service; or unpaid reconnection charge.

Duke Energy customers can connect with aid agencies here.

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Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen), a global healthcare company, released its 2023 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report. The report and the related ESG Reporting Index feature detailed information on Cencora’s ESG performance and its commitment to operations that benefit the planet and people more broadly. For the sixth year in a row, selected material topics and indicators contained in the report and index have been third-party verified by ERM Certification and Verification Services.

Cencora also released its 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Progress Report, which outlines the company’s efforts to leverage benchmarks of availability for talent in the marketplace and enhance a culture of inclusion, bringing its teams under its new, united global brand, Cencora.

“Cencora’s approach to ESG is a direct reflection of our purpose and responsibility to create healthier futures,” said Gina Clark, EVP and Chief Communications & Administration Officer at Cencora. “Our critical role at the center of the global pharmaceutical value chain enables us to advance our key priorities supporting purpose-driven team members, resilient and sustainable operations, and healthy customers and communities. I’m proud of the impact we’ve had over the past year, but our work to achieve our ESG priorities, inclusive of our work in diversity, equity and inclusion, continues. Through partnership, innovation, and most importantly – purpose – these efforts will continue to be at the core of everything that we do.”

Cencora is continuously focused on operating as a responsible business and advancing ESG initiatives to create healthier futures around the world, starting with the health of people and the planet. Cencora fulfills its commitments to ESG by focusing its efforts on a defined strategy, shaped by several focus areas and external standards and frameworks the company voluntarily aligns with, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the World Economic Forum Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics.

Cencora’s ESG strategy centers on three key priorities:

Purpose-Driven Team Members: Around the globe, Cencora puts people first by collaborating openly across the organization to foster a diverse, inclusive work environment and uphold the highest ethical and compliance standards. Highlights include:

Fostering Inclusion: A global DEI team promoted a culture of belonging and embraced the diverse workforce by launching a new training to empower all team members to support an inclusive work environment. Team members around the world were also engaged in listening sessions about inclusion, gaining valuable feedback in the process.Caring for Team Members: Team members were offered a suite of enhanced benefit programs to support holistic well-being and mental health including increasing parental leave in the U.S.Investing in Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): ERG membership increased, with over 5,400 active members globally, creating a more inclusive work environment and community.

Resilient and Sustainable Operations: Cencora is committed to operating responsibly in its vital role at the center of the pharmaceutical supply chain, ensuring people and animals have access to the medications they need while protecting the health of the planet. Highlights include:

Climate and Energy Management: A near-term science-based emissions target was set and received validation by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), with a goal to reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 54.6% by FY2032, in line with the 1.5-degree scenario. Cencora reduced emissions by nearly 2% from its base year and investments in renewable energy around the world are continuously being made.Waste Management, Recycling and Sustainable Packaging: Cencora continued to incorporate sustainable packaging solutions, which resulted in more than 40% of World Courier shipments utilizing reusable packaging. Cencora also collaborated with a manufacturing partner to launch an injection pen recycling program, which is estimated to recycle 25 million pens per year.Supplier Diversity: Diverse suppliers were further embedded into Cencora’s Marketplace platform to connect verified suppliers, over 65% of which are diverse, with independent pharmacy customers to help them secure inventory and community needs.

Healthy Customers and Communities: Cencora broadens access to quality healthcare and accelerates positive health outcomes in communities and with customers around the world. Highlights include:

The Cencora Impact Foundation: An independent, not-for-profit charitable giving organization, the Foundation, with Cencora, donated more than $12 million in financial contributions and product donations to communities across the globe in 2023. Together with team members, more than $1.5 million in financial contributions to 840 organizations through matching gifts and volunteer/board service programs was provided.Supporting Global Crises: The Cencora Impact Foundation supported numerous disasters, including aid for impacted communities and support for team members through the Cencora Team Assistance Fund. In the wake of the devastating series of earthquakes that impacted Türkiye and Syria in February, the Cencora Impact Foundation donated $250,000 of relief funds to several nonprofit partners.Expanding Access to Healthcare: In FY23, Cencora continued to strive to improve health outcomes through numerous programs like the Alphega Pharmacy Oncology Support Program, which helps pharmacists offer better advice and support to patients living with cancer.Encouraging Innovation: A Community of Practice (CoP) to foster a collaborative product culture that enables team members to contribute to innovation was established.

Cencora has been included in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2024. Yearbook members are selected based on their score from the S&P Global 2023 Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). To be listed in the Yearbook, companies must score within the top 15% of their industry and must achieve a CSA Score within 30% of their industry’s top-performing company.

For more information on the 2023 ESG Report and DEI Progress Report, please visit: https://esg.cencora.com/reports

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About Cencora 
Cencora is a leading global pharmaceutical solutions organization centered on improving the lives of people and animals around the world. We partner with pharmaceutical innovators across the value chain to facilitate and optimize market access to therapies. Care providers depend on us for the secure, reliable delivery of pharmaceuticals, healthcare products, and solutions. Our 46,000+ worldwide team members contribute to positive health outcomes through the power of our purpose: We are united in our responsibility to create healthier futures. Cencora is ranked #11 on the Fortune 500 and #24 on the Global Fortune 500 with more than $250 billion in annual revenue. Learn more at www.cencora.com. 

Media Contact: 
Michelle Engro; Sr. Manager, Public Relations, Cencora

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