The Winter of 2003;
High fuel costs and punishing cold set up a home-heating crisis in Valley

Morning Call (Allentown, PA)
February 14, 2003

Gasoline and oil prices aren't the only things increasing as this long cold winter continues. The number of people needing help to stay warm is also increasing.

Those who try to help low-income people to cope with the challenge of heating their homes in winter say more and more in the Lehigh Valley are having trouble paying their bills. "This year, it's the higher cost of fuel, the poor economy and the cold weather," says Pat Fischer of Northampton County's energy assistance office. It also comes at a time when President Bush has been stingy with heating assistance funds. His budget for the year proposed cutting funding for the federal Low-income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) from $1.7 billion to $1.3 billion. A month ago, as much of the Northeast suffered through one of the coldest Januaries in recent years, even Republican members of Congress, such as Pennsylvania's Sen. Arlen Specter and Lehigh Valley Rep. Pat Toomey, urged the White House to restore funding. By the end of January, the Bush administration put $200 million back in the program.

Pennsylvania's share of the LIHEAP funding amounted to $16.5 million, which is distributed through county assistance offices. People whose income is 135 percent of the poverty level can qualify for help. For a family of four, that means a family with an annual income of $24,435 a year. The individual income limit is $11,961.

Barbara Strunk, who runs Lehigh County's fuel assistance office, said her office is seeing an increase in applicants for help. "A lot of them are elderly and disabled," she said. "Many own their own homes and are struggling to get by on fixed incomes of $8,000 a year." Her most recent reports show that 5,172 people have sought help so far this heating season, which began in October. Of those, 3,380 received help -- $810,364 worth. But the real crisis is in those seeking emergency aid because they're almost out of heating oil and can't afford to pay for more. There have been 771 crisis cases in Lehigh County, so far, and they have used up $137,073 in assistance funds. Ms. Fischer said the crisis cases in Northampton County have doubled over last year. So far, her office has handed out basic LIHEAP aid totalling $520,985 to 3,313 applicants and another $100,446 to 613 crisis applicants. Add it all up, and it's more than $1.5 million -- and just $16.5 million went to a state of 67 counties.

There are other forms of help. Tim Dahl of PPL's Operation Help says the utility disburses another $1 million through 14 community organizations. But the need for help is outstripping the aid and there's plenty of winter left. The governor and the state Legislature must be ready to respond.