Put a little warmth in their hearths

Central Wisconsin Sunday (Stevens Point, WI)
April 21, 2002

Wisconsin is facing a crisis when it comes to low-income energy assistance.

Officials and lobbyists who work with the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, say the problem is just continuing to grow, primarily because federal funding is dwindling.

In the winter of 2000-01, the federal government released a total of $2.25 billion in LIHEAP funding, of which $80.7 million went to Wisconsin, according to Jim Benfield, executive director of the Campaign for Home Energy Assistance, a lobbying group made up of energy coalitions and charitable organizations such as The Salvation Army.

This past winter (2001-02), the funding dropped to $1.7 billion, and Wisconsin received $59.7 million.

Next year, President Bush has proposed $1.4 billion in funding, and that would mean Wisconsin would receive $49 million.

It’s not a good situation because it potentially puts people in danger.

The demand for assistance is growing, officials say, because energy costs continue to increase and unemployment rose at the end of last year, causing people to fall behind on their bills.

In Portage County, for example, more than 2,600 households have applied or will apply for assistance with this past winter’s bills – 32 percent more than last year, said Tim Bruer, executive director of the Madison-based Energy Services. About 2,200 will receive help.

In Marathon County, about 3,400 applications are expected and about 3,100 will be paid, Bruer said.

Wood County expects 2,022 applications and will pay 1,716, said Janet Rude, Wood County energy assistance coordinator.

The other major problem with LIHEAP is that county energy assistance officials need to know before the heating season – which starts in October – how much money will be available.

Because the fiscal year starts Oct. 1, the funding doesn’t get passed sometimes until mid-November, Benfield said.

Previously, the government has released advanced funds to help out, but hasn’t done it for the last two years, he said.

“We’ve been there before and that is a bad situation,” said Rude. “If we don’t have this adequate crisis funding, we cannot even address disconnect threats from major utilities, we cannot address (cut-off of) fuel deliveries, and once we hit October, it’s cold weather.”

Lack of emergency assistance can equal medical emergencies – especially for the elderly, she said.

It doesn’t help that Wisconsin Public Service Corp. last month announced it would increase natural gas and electric rates for 2003 and 2004.

“Right now, we see many families through the intensive services side of our Job Center who are behind in rent and utility payments,” said Phyllis Bermingham, director of the county’s Department of Employment and Training. “I’m concerned that any increase will only expand the number of low-income families who are currently unable to pay their utility bills in a timely manner and put the people in that group in a worse position.”

U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau, a champion of LHEAP, said Bush would “absolutely not” support such cuts in the program if he were from a cold state.

Some of the funding also goes to help people with cooling equipment during heat waves, he said.

“I expect we will have a large number of letters from people in both parties (in the House) asking that we put the money in,” Obey said. “The White House budget offices will make many of these cuts just to pretend that they’ve got their budget down to a certain level. They know full well that members of their own party will vote to restore these funds if given the chance.”

Let’s hope they do.

In the interest of public health and safety, we need the federal government to reject cuts in LIHEAP and release advance funds so local energy assistance officials can get help to the people who need it.