Monday, November 8

Help is available for high heating bills

By Heidi Williams and Emmitt Feldner

Gannett News Service

The cost to keep warm this winter may go through the roof. Depending upon how you heat your home, your cost could rise 11 percent to 29 percent, the Energy Department says. But a partnership among the federal government, utilities and charities can help low-income families pay their heating bills.

For many, especially senior citizens, the energy price increases mean a season of tough decisions.

``It will affect me, but I'm not going to starve,'' says Laurel Tank, 72, of Sheboygan, Wis. "I'll have to wait until I see my bill. It's like gasoline: If you want to go anywhere, no matter how it goes, you have to pay it.''

As Betty Cox interviews clients seeking to qualify for energy assistance, the coordinator of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program at Sunbelt Human Advancement Resources in upstate South Carolina says she hears stories more dire than Tank's.

Lacking money to pay all their bills, clients of her nonprofit community action agency often choose to alternate between bills.

"Usually, their priorities are split between medication and heating," Cox says. "Of course, it's a major health risk both ways."

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps more than 4.5 million low-income families stay warm in winter and cool in summer, channeling its money through states, territories and American Indian tribes to community agencies that take applications for aid.

Congress never allocates enough money for every family to be helped fully. So states and community agencies set income guidelines, generally 110 percent to 150 percent of the federal poverty level - $18,850 for a family of four living in the continental United States - or 60 percent of a state's median income.

In early October, the federal government announced it would send $1.2 billion to states, territories and tribes for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program this fiscal year, about $500 million less than last year, though that may increase. The program received about the same amount of money last year as it did in 1982 when it began.

To stretch the federal money, part of it is awarded to states based on donations solicited through community groups like Anderson High School's National Energy Education Development Club in suburban Cincinnati, which sponsored a fun run to raise money to keep Ohio homes warm.

The continuing need is one reason utilities stuff their bills with requests for donations. Most link with charities like the Red Cross or Salvation Army to make customers' contributions tax deductible. Some gas and electric companies also match contributions.

``It's incredible. For us, it's something that's been going on for a number of years, and we've raised in the millions of dollars,'' says spokeswoman Alice Gordon of Alabama Power. She adds a couple of dollars to her own electric bill each month to participate in Project Share, which her company helped found in Alabama. Since 1982, customers have donated more than $23 million.

Though Project Share money is dispensed through different channels than the government assistance, those donations help Alice Weary's agency aid more people, says the executive assistant at Montgomery Community Action in Alabama. Her agency is in constant contact with local utilities so clients don't fall far behind in their bills.

``Their cooperation goes a long way to prevent disconnections,'' she says of utility companies. Bills climb even higher after power is turned off because of additional fees to have gas or electric service restored. If Montgomery Community Action steps in too late, it has to pay more - money that could go to help additional cash-strapped families.

Both electric and gas company spokesmen say the best way for customers to avoid high winter bills is to use a utility company's budget plan that averages the cost during an entire year. It keeps monthly payments consistent.

Utility companies also will work with customers who can't make full payments. Utilities in many states where temperatures frequently dip below freezing cannot turn off a customer's power during winter without extending their time to pay.

"My guess is we will see a fairly equal amount, if not larger'' number of requests for help this year, says Liz Mahloch, economic support manager for the Sheboygan County Health and Human Services Department. ``I don't believe the economy has improved to the point where people are not going to need help."

Want to apply?

Call: The National Energy Assistance Referral Project toll free at 866-674-6327 to learn where to apply locally for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

E-mail: energyassistance@ncat.org. Please include your city, county and state in your electronic-mail message.

(Williams reports for The Greenville (S.C.) News; Feldner reports for The Sheboygan (Wis.) Press. Also contributing: Jay Kirschenmann, (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader; Karen Andrew, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Linda Dono, GNS.)