Louisiana Crisis nears in unpaid heating bills

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Crisis nears in unpaid heating bills 03/04/01

By Michelle Mahfoufi The Times

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More than 1,000 turned down for assistance

Saul T. Jenkins sits inside her kitchen keeping warm by her gas stove at her home in the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive neighborhood.

Mary P. Mosley spent most of last year trying to pay off a $450 gas bill. The balance had finally hit zero when January’s statement from Reliant Energy-Arkla arrived in the mail.

Amount due: $432.

Then came February’s bill: $344.

"When I saw that I said, ‘Lord, how am I going to pay these bills and these folks that have been calling me every day about my other bills?"’ Mosley said.

December’s cold weather coupled with rising natural gas prices threw a one-two punch few residents were expecting.

Area nonprofit organizations have been overwhelmed with requests for financial assistance. The Salvation Army ran out of money for gas assistance in early February, and other groups are being forced to become more selective in whom they help. More than 92,000 Louisianans -- twice the amount of last year -- are expected to ask the government for help in paying their utility bills, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association.

But as more than 1,000 Caddo Parish residents found out in the last three weeks, not everyone will qualify for assistance.

"It’s like an epidemic that’s exploded and you don’t know where to tell them to go," said Lillie Garrett, a social services director for The Salvation Army.

Frustration and worry are mounting for residents like Mosley, whose January bill alone takes up all but $100 of her monthly income. Both statements together are nearly triple her mortgage, which the 73-year-old is now two months behind paying. Although the utility companies are encouraging customers to set up payment plans and have added extra service representatives to handle the increased call volume, many residents say the lines are often jammed.

Others, like Sibley resident Teresa Lotz, are angry at what appears to be a lack of action on the part of public officials. Lotz spent one recent morning calling Public Service Commissioner Don Owen, Gov. Mike Foster and several state representatives looking for help for friend Candace Martin. Martin’s gas had been turned off for nonpayment of a $200 bill, about $20 less than her monthly income. To turn the gas back on, Reliant required the past due amount and a deposit two times the highest bill -- in all, more than $600. Martin borrowed $200 from her father but hoped to raise the additional $400 with a garage sale.

"I called Don Owen’s office and they couldn’t care less," Lotz said. "(Public officials) all say, ‘We’ll see what we can do, we’ll look into it.’ I can’t believe there’s not something out there for these people."

There is. But, consumer advocates say, it’s not enough.

The federal government distributed $2.26 billion to states for utility bill assistance through emergency grants and funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Of that amount, Louisiana received nearly $19.1 million. Caddo Parish’s share was $598,000.

Bossier Parish has yet to receive funds for its assistance program. But the parish received an emergency grant of $71,000 -- $25,000 of which was handed out to about 250 people in the first 10 days of availability.

As of Friday, the Caddo Community Action Agency -- which administers the assistance program for Caddo Parish -- provided nearly 475 people with $50-$275 each in assistance. But the agency turned away more than 1,000 people, most of whom had received help in the last year. Under the program guidelines, an applicant cannot receive assistance more than once every 12 months unless the state Department of Social Services grants a waiver. Bossier’s program has similar rules but the Office of Community Service, which distributes the funds, doesn’t track how many people don’t qualify.‘I wish our hands weren’t tied’

That means residents like Mildred Thomas, who received financial aid during last summer’s heat wave, must find assistance elsewhere. Thomas, 55, is on a fixed income. Her January gas bill was $500, followed by a $250 bill in February. Until two weeks ago, when she was able to work out a payment plan with Reliant, she thought she was going to have to let the gas company cut off her service.

"I’ve been trying to pay that bill and I haven’t paid insurance and other household bills," she said. "It’s going to be a little bit better, but I’m still not going to be able to pay the whole bill. I’m still going to miss a month (on other bills because) the money is almost out; $530 just won’t go that far."

To Virginia Evans, who formed Unity Neighborhood Association to give a voice to the low-income residents of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive area, the assistance program isn’t serving its purpose. She surveyed more than 100 households in surrounding neighborhoods and found residents whose monthly bills ranged from $150 to more than $1,000 in poorly insulated frame houses. Their cases are documented on scribbled notes and handwritten lists that she keeps in a briefcase with the letters to congressional and Public Service Commission representatives and the form letters she’s received in return.

"They say, ‘We know it’s there, we understand.’ But they’re not doing anything to change it," Evans said. "The programs and the money are not benefiting the people it’s supposed to help. The people that oversee these programs, their gas bills are getting paid. What about the people that have to make the choice between medicine and buying food? Look at what it’s doing to the people -- the burden on the poor people who can’t afford it."

But Laurance Guidry, executive director of Caddo Community Action Agency, said there’s little "wiggle room" in the program’s guidelines.

"If it were my money, I would take to that side," he said. "But the way the regulations are written, it prohibits us from doing that. I know there’s a lot of need and a lot of human suffering. I wish our hands weren’t tied to the tomb."

The 12-month rule was implemented nearly two years ago when representatives from community action agencies across the state met with the Department of Social Services to revise the program and agreed to restrict assistance to once a year.

"Their concern was that we were serving the same people over and over again," said Brenda Grogan, administrator of the energy assistance section at the Department of Social Services. "It is estimated we serve only about one-third of the eligible population. The need to expand rather than continuously serve the same people all the time is what we’re trying to accomplish. There’s never enough money for this type of assistance."‘People need this for their lives’

Legislation introduced last month and co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. John Breaux, D-La., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., could increase funding for the assistance program by $1 billion this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The legislation would also temporarily increase the income level of households eligible for the funds.

Congress is also looking at the assistance program and how it is administered by states to see if there’s a need for a change in the regulations -- including the 12-month rule -- said U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Shreveport. No formal legislation has been introduced, but the appropriate committees will be holding hearings, he said.

In the meantime, the Louisiana Department of Social Services has loosened the guidelines for waivers. Of the 50 waivers submitted to the department, all were approved. But the department won’t change the rules for eligibility, Grogan said.

"We haven’t seen any indication that this isn’t doing what it is supposed to do -- to reach those unserved people."

The community action agencies can ask the department to waive the 12-month rule if the agencies find they’re not receiving enough new applicants, Grogan said. None have asked to do so.

But the current crisis is about more than just inadequate funding for the assistance program, said Gary Groesch, executive director of New Orleans-based Alliance for Afford-able Energy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating fair and affordable energy policies. More money is also needed to help people make their homes energy-efficient, he said.

"People need this for their lives. It’s not like they’re faking it -- they’re trying to stay warm," Groesch said. "This is not a question of charity; it’s a question of acting in a manner that will minimize the impact on society."

If more money was spent weatherizing homes before cold snaps and heat waves arrive, utility bills wouldn’t be as high and fewer people would need emergency financial assistance, Evans said. She points to Saul T. Jenkins, whose gas bill literally went through the roof. The ceiling has caved in on the home of the 84-year-old woman, who is now facing a $639 gas bill.

Evans helped Jenkins set up a payment plan with Reliant.

"I paid $50 last month, and I’ll pay $50 or $75 this month. But it’ll be June and I’ll still be behind," Jenkins said.‘I pay what I can’

Both Reliant and AEP-Southwestern Electric Power Company have encouraged customers to establish payment plans. And in light of the recent high utility bills, the Public Service Commission has asked both companies to be more lenient in their cutoff policies and security deposit requirements. Owen’s office has helped customers establish payment plans.

The number of Reliant customers on payment plans has doubled to about 10,000, said district manager Joe Chambers. And while the number of cutoffs is up about 10 percent -- Chambers declined to state how many customers have been cut off because the number varies weekly -- the utilities are not cutting off service when temperatures fall below freezing.

The companies also have been working with their good-pay customers, Owen said.

But customers with a poor credit history of paying their utility bills could face high security deposits if their service is cut off for nonpayment. The PSC allows a utility company to charge up to 21/2 times the customer’s highest bill. If a customer pays their utility bill for 12 months, the security deposit is refunded with interest.

"That 21/2 times is an option," said Bobby Burns, Reliant district operations manager for the Shreveport district. "Our standard deposit is $75. The vast majority of times it’s increased another $75, but a lot of times it’s not increased at all."

Owen says the deposits are protection for both the utility companies and the customers, who would have to pick up the costs if Reliant or SWEPCO allowed nonpaying residents to continue to receive service.

"You’ve got a lot of people out there who don’t pay their bills, and they didn’t pay when their bills were low," Owen said. The utility companies "cannot continue to serve people for an indefinite period of time because (residents) can’t pay. ... We do not have the power or legal authority to give away its service, and we wouldn’t want to."

Martin, who is planning the garage sale to cover the $400 security deposit, admits she has let her bills fall behind in the past.

"I pay what I can. A lot of times I’ve paid it late, but I always paid it off before the next bill arrived," she said. "I hate to say they’re being unfair because it’s my fault that it didn’t get paid. But if people can’t pay the monthly amount, how can they come up with 2 1/2 times that amount plus the bill?"‘This is not a social program’

The Alliance for Affordable Energy believes the PSC should require -- rather than recommend -- utility companies not to cut off service to customers who don’t pay.

"This is a crisis situation and the commission should have pushed," said Groesch, who has suggested setting a statewide March 31 deadline before power companies can turn off household utilities.

State Sen. Foster Campbell (D-Elm Grove), chairman of the Senate Committee on Consumer Affairs, is looking for solutions as well. He held two forums in an attempt to determine what led to skyrocketing utility bills and how to prevent the scenario from repeating itself. Although he doesn’t blame the PSC for the current situation, he says the commission should be more aggressive in finding answers.

"The Public Service Commission should be holding hearings and asking questions. That’s how you get problems solved," Campbell said. "If the Public Service Commission says they don’t have enough power, I’m willing to work with them."

Campbell said he would be willing to introduce legislation to increase the commission’s power if the PSC feels it would help them better regulate the utility companies. But Owen takes offense at the idea, saying that he would "be willing to defend" to Campbell what the Public Service Commission has done in his district.

"We’re pretty powerful as it is. I don’t know that any additional power, if we had it, could have accomplished anything," Owen said. "No regulatory body in any of the states was able to do any better at coping with this than Louisiana. But as high as prices were, we had gas. A lot of states were on the verge of not having enough gas to generate electricity."

But political consultant Elliott Stonecipher says the commission’s power has been undermined by the changing utility environment. Partial deregulation has limited the commission’s regulatory reach.

"I don’t think Don Owen or any member of the Public Service Commission is any more adept today than a typical consumer in figuring out how, in this environment, to answer the needs of the people. The Public Service Commission can roar like they did 10 years ago today and nothing will happen," he said.

The main conflict, Stonecipher said, lies in whom the utilities are supposed to answer to: the Public Service Commission or their shareholders.

"Natural gas is a commodity," Reliant’s Chambers said. "If prices at Brookshire’s went up, do you think they’ll be any more lenient on you? No, they won’t. The purchase of energy is not an entitlement. This is not a social program."

http://news.shreveporttimes.com/

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 04, 2001


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