Customers chilled by soaring heat bills - Rising fuel prices, coldest winter in years blamed

www.post-gazette.com Saturday, March 01, 2003 By Gary Rotstein, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The winter of plunging temperatures has turned into the season of soaring heating bills.

Customers reviewing their latest utility statements have been hit flush with the cost of the coldest January in nine years, which is just part of the coldest December-February stretch since 1978-79.

Residential heating systems consume more fuel, whatever the source, when outside temperatures drop. That has affected bills at the same time utilities have passed along to customers their rising supply costs, influenced by a variety of national and world conditions, including the threatened war with Iraq.

The average January cost for Dominion Peoples residential customers was $195.61, compared with $104.93 a year earlier, said Elmore Lockley, the gas company's spokesman.

About $52 of the increase was due solely to the cold weather affecting consumption, Lockley said, and $38 to the gas cost itself.

He said the latter was affected by Middle East supply concerns, a slowdown in drilling new gas wells during mild weather last year, oil supply disruptions in Venezuela and other factors of supply and demand. Some large energy consumers that typically use oil are able to switch to gas when oil supplies dwindle or jump in cost, but that in turn affects gas supplies and costs.

Other local utilities say their customers also have experienced increases, although direct January-to-January comparisons weren't available. Even without the impact of cold weather on an individual household's consumption, supply costs would be about $41 more in January than a year ago for Columbia Gas Co. customers, said spokesman Rob Boulware.

The higher bills mean many customers may fall behind in their payments shortly before April 1, the date when the Public Utility Commission ends its annual cold-season moratorium. Utilities are barred from terminating service from December through March of households unwilling or unable to pay debts.

Utilities typically start sending out notices in March threatening termination in April of customers who are far behind with bills.

The harsh winter conditions won't change that, said Equitable Gas Co. spokeswoman Cindy Jergan, but she said low-income households and others with financial problems can often avoid shutoff by explaining their situation and making special arrangements.

"We're willing to work with customers to get them set up on a payment plan," she said. "We encourage customers to contact us in advance" of encountering huge debts.

Recognizing this winter's strain on household costs, government officials have boosted the amount of aid available to low-income families to maintain their heat supply. Both the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and Dollar Energy Fund, sponsored by a consortium of utilities, are receiving applications from needy consumers.

"We definitely want families across the state to know there is still time to get help," said Stephanie Suran, spokeswoman for the welfare department, which administers the federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

LIHEAP makes payments averaging several hundred dollars to utilities on behalf of households within 135 percent of the federal poverty level. That puts the qualifying ceiling at $11,961 for a single person and $24,435 for a family of four.

As of a week ago, the state had approved 244,425 LIHEAP cash grants totaling $57.7 million and 75,566 of the program's "crisis" grants, totaling $12.7 million. The crisis grants are for people with emergencies in which they may lose their home heat -- due to utility shutoffs, broken equipment, difficulty paying for deliverable fuel like oil or other problems.

An emergency federal appropriation announced Feb. 18 provided $16.4 million in new LIHEAP funds to the state, which Suran said is being used to bump a household's potential crisis grant from $300 to $600.

In another bonus for the program, the new budget bill passed by Congress is expected to filter an additional $26.5 million in LIHEAP funds to Pennsylvania, on top of the original projection of $93.6 million. Suran said officials will determine soon how to make use of the additional money, including possible extension of the March 27 deadline to apply for aid.

The Dollar Energy Fund, supported by contributions from 13 utilities and their customers, provides separate grants of up to $400 to help people within 200 percent of the poverty limit. The eligibility limit is $17,184 for an individual and $35,304 for a family of four.

Through the winter, the program only accepts applications from those who have lost heat. Starting today, it begins helping anyone who is income eligible and needs help.

"Many of the people we're serving now are the new working-class poor, not people who have been on welfare for years," said Cindy Datig, Dollar Energy Fund executive director. "We're also seeing a new class of professionals who lost their jobs and need help."

The program relies on a network of 150 agencies that screen clients and process applications. Janet Kirik, a coordinator for the Elder-Ado senior services center in Mount Oliver, said people have begun contacting her about new heating bills $150 to $200 higher than what they've been accustomed to.

"I'm going to be swamped" next week with Dollar Energy Fund applications, she said.

Applicants for Dollar Energy Fund assistance should ask their utility to recommend an agency near them to contact and apply through.

Applicants for LIHEAP grants should contact their welfare assistance office or call the state's toll-free phone line: 1-866-857-7095.

Gary Rotstein can be reached at grotstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1255.