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New Low-Income Energy Resources for FY 2002Last year the LIHEAP Clearinghouse monitored activities among state legislatures, utility commissions and other entities that provided supplemental low-income energy funding. This year we are continuing this effort by posting updates from states that have provided or are proposing additional funding or other resources to help address their low-income households' energy needs. Not only new energy assistance funding, but disconnection moratoria, and energy conservation initiatives will be cited. If you are aware of such initiatives in your state, please contact the Clearinghouse. Last year's compilation can be accessed at http://www.ncat.org/liheap/news/01newres.htm
Michigan On February 21, the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) announced the release of $27.4 million for energy payment assistance for low-income households in the state. The money will be distributed through the state LIHEAP office and seven community action and non-profit groups. The money is part of the state's the low-income energy efficiency (LIEE) fund authorized by Michigan's electric restructuring legislation. The 2000 restructuring law created the LIEE fund as part of securitization -- bonds that customers pay off on their bills, allowing the state's two largest electric utilities, Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy, to recover their stranded costs. Savings from securitization were first used to lower rates by five percent; any other savings go into the LIEE fund. The fund, which will run for six years, began collecting money in the spring of 2001 and totaled about $20 million as of November 2001. Eventually, it may total as much as $60 million. The PSC issued a Request for Proposal for energy assistance programs on December 21 and gave applicants a January 10, 2002 deadline. It also announced that it intends to use 75 percent of the 2002 LIEE fund for low-income programs. It followed with an RFP for energy efficiency programs March. Nine organizations submitted 10 proposals totaling more than $40 million in grant requests. The commission awarded $27.4 million in grants from the LIEE fund in March 2002. The grants will run through September 2002. The following applicants were selected:
For more information, see electric utility restructuring. Georgia The Georgia Public Service Commission voted December 4, 2001 to earmark $5 million from the USF to provide further assistance to low-income consumers with outstanding natural gas bills. The Department of Human Resources will disburse $2 million to assist low-income seniors and $3 million to assist low-income households meeting federal poverty guidelines. This action by the Commission brings a total of $15 million for this fiscal year that has been distributed from the USF to assist low-income with natural gas bills. October 2, 2001, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved a two-part plan that would provide $10 million from the Universal Service Fund (USF) to help low-income seniors pay their natural gas bills. An initial $2 million grant will assist seniors who have had their natural gas service disconnected or who are subject to disconnection. Assistance will be a dollar for dollar matching fund program with no limit on the amount a consumer may receive. In addition, a $50 monthly credit on natural gas bills of eligible seniors began November 2001 and will continue through March 2002. Seniors citizens who are 65 or over with an annual total household income of $12,000 or less are eligible for assistance. New Jersey On March 21, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) gave final approval to an interim Universal Service Fund (USF) program worth $15 million to assist low-income consumers with the payment of their electric and natural gas heating bills through a $200 credit. The action finalizes a November 21, 2001 Board order that mandated an interim USF be established for the eligible customers of Elizabethtown Gas Company, New Jersey Natural Gas Company, Public Service Electric and Gas Company, South Jersey Gas Company, Conectiv Power Delivery and Rockland Electric Company. General Public Utilities was permitted to continue its previously approved low-income assistance pilot program, and was exempt from the November order. The fixed credit must be applied to eligible customers' accounts no later than April 15, 2002. Additionally, to ensure that the program meets the needs of as many eligible customers as possible, the Board approved May 15, 2002 and July 15, 2002 as additional credit issuance dates to assist parties who may be identified after April 15th. LIHEAP income eligibility levels will be used (175 percent FPG) and each utility will administer the program in its own service territory. The affected utilities must submit a report to the BPU by August 1, 2002, providing the number of eligible customers who received benefits, how funds were allocated and the cost to administer the program. In a news release, the BPU acknowledged the need to establish a permanent and non-lapsing fund for low-income assistance, as is required by New Jersey's Electric Discount and Energy Competition Act. The New Jersey Ratepayer Advocate, with concurrence from advocacy groups, submitted a proposal for a permanent program in September 2000. Briefly, that program calls for rate assistance in the form of fixed bill credits and arrearage forgiveness to income-eligible households. The fixed credit would bring participating households' energy bills down to an affordable percentage of their household income. In determining the amount of the fixed credit, any assistance that customers receive from other programs such as LIHEAP and Lifeline would be taken into account. The RPA's proposed program would cost about $67 million, amounting to about $0.31 per month for the average residential electric customer using an average of 500 kWh per month; for an average gas heating residential customer, the monthly charge would be about $0.37. STATE FUNDING New Jersey The state's Lifeline program, which provides utility bill assistance to elderly and disabled residents, received a $15 million boost in November. Earlier, government officials had considered withholding the increase due to a state budget deficit. Lifeline provides a credit on electric or natural gas bills of $225 per year to disabled and senior homeowners and tenants. The increase will mean some 300,000 Lifeline participants will receive about $48 more each year. It is the first time the credit has been increased in 15 years. Massachusetts The third time may be a charm for the Massachusetts LIHEAP to get and to spend state money. Due to restrictive legislative language, the Massachusetts LIHEAP was twice unable to spend separate $12 million state appropriations for the program. In a preliminary report completed in October 2001, a Massachusetts legislative committee called for more state funding to supplement the state's LIHEAP, while noting that $12 million appropriated in November 2000 went unused because the legislation said that the funds could not be expended until all federal funds available for LIHEAP had been obligated. Because the state fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, the state allocated funds expired on June 30, at which time federal funds were still in use under the federal fiscal year. Similarly, a $12 million appropriation made in February 2000 went unused because of the same legislative language. "Given the 26.18 percent increase in applications from 1999-2001, the likely reduction in federal funds available for LIHEAP, and uncertainty of utility and fuel prices, and the forecasted economic downturn in the state and federal economies, the legislature should consider options that would make state funds available for fuel assistance," the report said. "This could provide some stability to the start-up of the program each heating season, and consequently would provide timely service to those citizens on the Commonwealth who are in need." The report was completed by the House of Representatives House Post Audit and Oversight Bureau, 617-722-2575. OTHER FUNDING Oregon The Board of Governors of the Eugene, Oregon, Water & Electric Board voted in October to dedicate $2.5 million of a 36 percent residential electric rate increase to low-income energy assistance. About $2 million of the funds will go to the Board's Energy Share fuel fund. Energy Share usually distributes about $120,000 a year to approximately 1,000 households. The additional funding will allow it to target a minimum of 8,000 families. The balance of the funds will go to programs that combine bill paying assistance, weatherization work, and referrals to additional human services available in the community. Indiana The Lilly Endowment Inc. is continuing a $25 million gas utility bill assistance program that it began last winter. The funds will be distributed through HELP 2001, a collaborative effort with Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana and gas utilities statewide. The program began October 1, 2001 and is scheduled to run through May 31, 2002 or until the funds are exhausted. Customers between 125 percent and 175 percent of the federal poverty level may apply for assistance and eligible recipients will be referred to Goodwill Industries for job placement or training opportunities. Additionally, Citizens Gas, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, has contributed $500,000 to its Warm Heart Warm Home fuel fund for fiscal year 2002. The fund provided $267,201 to 3,025 households last winter. Since last winter, Citizens Gas has also sent letters to disconnected customers offering them the opportunity to have their service restored without reconnection fees or deposits if balances are paid by a certain date. Over 2,000 customers have accepted. New Orleans On December 13, the City Council of New Orleans put aside $6 million for a public benefits fund out of a $33.6 million refund linked to excess costs associated with the Grand Gulf Nuclear Plant. It was part of a package of settlements that was agreed to by the City Council and two subsidiaries of Entergy Corp. This is the first such fund established in Louisiana and is the result of months of work by a coalition composed of the Alliance for Affordable Energy, Citizens for Change, Green Party, Neighborhood Unity and many other groups. Although many details have to be worked out on the program, the fund will likely 1) help low-income, elderly and disabled people pay unaffordable utility bills, 2) educate people on how to save on utility costs, and 3) create a set of programs for making homes and businesses more energy efficient. Additionally, several council members publicly committed to making the fund permanent, which they see as a vital necessity in a city with large numbers of low income people and a decaying housing infrastructure. The size of the fund is roughly the equivalent of a 1.2 mill charge on utility bills, or twice the amount of an equivalent Texas fund. The Texas fund is, however, permanently affixed in its statewide deregulation legislation. In the past year New Orleans has experienced catastrophic increases in natural gas prices that threatened the termination of 30,000 households in Orleans Parish. As a result, the coalition secured millions of dollars in rebates and prompted a complete overhaul of the disconnection process including a) a ratepayers' bill of rights with a complaint procedure before an impartial administrative law judge, b) a 3-time waiver of late fees for qualified low income customers, c) sufficient numbers of Spanish-speaking hotline operators, and c) a state of the art weather determination system developed by the University of Delaware that precisely determines where human health begins to deteriorate in hot, Louisiana summers. When the weather reaches that threshold, Entergy has agreed to suspend all terminations for non-payment. The bulk of the settlement funds, about $27.6 million, will go to about 170,000 residential and commercial electricity customers of Entergy New Orleans, which serves the city's east bank. Two smaller settlements will benefit some of Entergy's gas customers. Georgia Low-income customers of Atlanta Gas Light Co. (AGL) whose service has been disconnected and who qualify for LIHEAP will not have to pay $25 reconnection fees. This news followed an announcement on December 7 by the three top natural gas marketers that overdue balances for low-income customers would not have to be paid before having gas service reconnected. Ohio Dominion East Ohio is funding a pilot payment match program for customers who have received a disconnect notice or whose natural gas has been disconnected as of October 31, 2001. East Ohio will match dollar-for-dollar, up to $500, the first payment a customer makes before December 31, 2001. The customer must pay a reconnection fee, up to $20, and enter into a payment plan to pay off any remaining arrearages over six or fewer months. The program is funded by approximately $100 million from a surplus in an East Ohio depreciation account. Indiana Vectren Energy Delivery of Indiana Inc. (Vectren) in September announced two new energy assistance programs, including a $1.7 million pledge of company funds, to assist those in need this winter heating season. Under its new one-time Zero Balance Program, Vectren will waive normal reconnection fees and the deposits typically required of customers whose service was disconnected due to nonpayment of owed amounts. Customers who are currently disconnected may take advantage of this special program by paying the balance on their accounts and requesting service be reinstated before Nov. 15, 2001. The company also is providing $1.7 million to fund a new Vectren Fall Assistance Program beginning October 1. Households meeting income eligibility requirements for energy assistance may receive financial assistance to apply to past due account balance. Page Last Updated: December 7, 2005 |
