LIHEAP NETWORKER
ISSUE #41
February 2002
Compiled by the LIHEAP Clearinghouse
(Note: The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, organizations, or program activities imply endorsement by the U.S. Government or compliance with HHS regulations).
ARTICLES INDEX
LIHEAP Funding up 21 Percent for FY 2002
Vermont Summer Fuel Purchase Program A "Qualified Success" for 1st Season
ACORN Takes on Utility Assistance As Part of Low-Income Activism
Three New Funding Sources Bolster Nevada’s Low Income Energy
Assistance
Michigan PSC Hopes for January Start of New State Energy Assistance
Program
MN, MO Provide Energy Assistance From Ad Valorem Tax Refunds
New Jersey Gets Interim Heating Program
New Orleans Gets $6 million PBF
Ohio Launches Energy Efficiency Program For High Consumption
Low-income
Low-Income Energy Resources
Low-Income Energy Calendar
LIHEAP Funding up 21 Percent for FY 2002
While LIHEAP funding has increased by 21 percent for FY 2002, state directors are hoping for the release of $600 million in LIHEAP emergency funds.
Regular 2002 funding was finalized at $1.7 billion after President Bush signed the FY 2002 Labor/HHS/Education spending bill on January 10. The bill also provided for $300 million in LIHEAP emergency contingency funds. Another $300 million, part of the Supplemental Appropriations Act passed in June 2001, is also available to LIHEAP as emergency funding.
As of January 28, there were no indications as to when the emergency funds would be released.
House and Senate conferees, in passing the Labor/HHS/Education appropriations bill,
called for the release of the funds:
"The conferees are concerned that the combination of circumstances, according to
objective data sources, has left many low income households with utility debts at levels
considerably higher than the previous year, while applications for this coming heating
season are coming in at rates significantly higher than last year. Therefore, the
conferees encourage the Administration to release funds to reduce the energy burden on low
income households throughout the nation."
The conferees cited rising unemployment rates during the last two months as a compelling reason for the release.
In other FY 2002 funding news, the Weatherization Assistance Program received $230 million, up from $153 million last year, and the Community Services Block Grant received $650 million, a $50 million increase from FY 2001.
Vermont Summer Fuel Purchase Program
A "Qualified Success" for 1st Season
Programs to lower the costs of bulk fuels for LIHEAP recipients are common, especially in the Northeast. They include a variety of approaches such as vendor discounts, competitive bidding, summer pre-purchase programs, and fixed margin programs.
A somewhat new approach debuted in Vermont this year - a formal, statewide summer fuel purchase program, assisted by an advance from state funds.
State legislation passed in 2001 allowed Vermont to advance non-federal funds to the LIHEAP program after July 1 to pay for summer fuel purchase agreements with participating fuel suppliers.
The first year of the state's Summer Fuel Purchase (SFP) Program was "an overwhelmingly qualified success," said Richard Moffi, Vermont’s Fuel Assistance Program Chief. He explained that because of falling prices for petroleum fuels, the SFP program did not leverage for clients "the additional product we had anticipated." From the perspective of logistics and program inauguration, however, Moffi said the SFP Program was "extremely successful."
The SFP program enrolled 119 (60 percent) of the state's oil, propane, and kerosene suppliers, serving 9,167 households (73 percent) using those fuels. The value of the SFP Agreements was over $4.3 million. "This is an excellent participation rate for a first-year program that is completely voluntary," Moffi said. Vermont pays LIHEAP benefits directly to fuel and energy suppliers who are certified with his office (the Office of Home Heating Fuel Assistance, or OHHFA).
However, the combination of a relatively warm winter in the Northeast, low fuel prices, and the economic fallout from September's terrorist attacks limited the amount of savings anticipated by Vermont's OHHFA. "Nine years out of ten, fuel prices go up in the winter," Moffi said, an important fact of life in a state where 85 percent of LIHEAP recipients heat with oil, propane, or kerosene. Fuel prices were uncommonly low this heating season.
With 78 percent of LIHEAP benefits issued and dealer prices confirmed, the SFP Agreements leveraged only slightly more than $86,000 in additional fuel for over 6,900 LIHEAP recipients. These totals will increase as Vermont continues to issue benefits and track fuel prices for households who applied later in the fuel season, Moffi said. "At least we made a little money, and no one got hurt," he added.
Suppliers who sign with the SFP quote a price, based on summer rates. They also guarantee a price reduction if prices fall below that quote. Because each company sets its own price, the program is not a bid process, so suppliers compete only against themselves to provide their customers with the best prices. LIHEAP recipients are free to pick their own fuel supplier, whether or not the supplier is part of the SFP program.
Once a supplier signs with the SFP, the LIHEAP office (the Office of Home Heating Fuel Assistance) multiplies the number of fuel assistance customers in its territory by $477 -- the average fuel liability benefit projected for 2001-02 -- for the total due. The company can then decide whether it wants six monthly payments or a lump sum; the lump sum option is available only to suppliers who agree to a lower per gallon price.
Fuel assistance customers get the agreed-upon price only for the fuel purchased with their fuel assistance benefit. Fuel purchased by the customer or by other fuel assistance programs (above the individual's benefit amount) is not covered. The SFP program is available to clients on a first-come/first-served basis. Because Vermont starts accepting and processing applications in mid-July, 75 percent of clients get their full year’s benefit issued in November.
Vermont's Summer Fuel Purchase Program is funded by LIHEAP monies, but the state legislature made the program possible by allowing the LIHEAP office to spend state money equaling up to 75 percent of last year's LIHEAP block grant. "Since the 2000-01 LIHEAP grant was $8 million," Moffi explained, "we had $6 million to spend."
Moffi said he believes that Vermont’s SFP can be easily replicated by other states, counties, or agencies making direct LIHEAP payments to bulk fuel suppliers.
Vermont’s SFP Documents such as a program overview, vendor agreements and instructions are accessible from the "Directors Tool Kit" on the LIHEAP Clearinghouse website at http://www.ncat.org/liheap/admin.htm#Agreements. Information on other bulk fuel discount programs is also available from the LIHEAP Clearinghouse.
ACORN Takes on Utility Assistance
As Part of Low-Income Activism
A national organization with a commitment to low- and moderate-income people has taken on affordable utility rates as a key organizing issue.
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) claims to be the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, with over 100,000 member families organized into 500 neighborhood chapters in 40 cities across the country. Since 1970, ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to its members such as, better housing for first time homebuyers and tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, more investment in low-income communities from banks and governments, better public schools, and humanizing utility policies nationwide.
ACORN members identified affordable utility rates as a top priority when utility bills began skyrocketing last winter, rendering many low-income households unable to pay them, not to mention additional reconnection fees and deposits. During the past year, ACORN has been actively involved with various utility issues and has scored victories in the states listed below.
Illinois
Illinois ACORN used a number of tactics in Chicago during its year-long negotiation
process with Peoples Gas. The end result was that Peoples Gas has agreed in writing to no
shut-offs this winter and to a pilot program for payment options based on income.
Illinois ACORN Head Organizer, Madeline Talbott, said that during the state’s normal winter moratorium - from November 1 through April 1 - no shut-offs could occur when the outside temperature dropped to 32 degrees F. Talbott said, "This was a fight that had tremendous results. Two years ago, Peoples Gas shut off 4,821 households. Last winter, only 103 shut-offs occurred." The pilot program for payment options is still in the planning stages, with income guidelines currently undecided.
Arkansas
Arkansas ACORN won an emergency gas-reconnection program from Arkansas’ Public
Service Commission. From early November to December 31, gas heat was restored to 7,430
low-income households who agreed to repayment plans of up to 36 months. Households at 200
percent of federal poverty guidelines were eligible to participate in the program and they
could self declare their incomes to certify. The state’s gas utilities were required
to waive their reconnection fees.
Neil Sealy, Arkansas ACORN Head Organizer, explained that the second phase of this campaign would be to re-examine the PSC’s General Service policies that allow shut-offs to occur. He said, "The Commissioners are elected officials, and the best way to get these policies changed is to make them an election issue."
Rhode Island
This past winter, Rhode Island ACORN, along with other allies, sought new rules for the
reconnection of gas service. As a result, the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission
approved a measure that allowed for the restoring of gas service to households that paid
20 percent of their past-due amounts. Dave Lagstein, Head Organizer for Rhode Island
ACORN, said, "Although we don’t have hard numbers yet, the program was
successful in getting many low-income households turned back on. It definitely made an
impact; however, it’s just a drop in the bucket of what’s needed." The PUC
will be conducting state-wide public hearings over the next four to six weeks, and ACORN
will be working on at least two utility assistance issues: to extend the November through
March utility moratorium and to establish payment options that are based on a
customer’s ability to pay.
Texas
Dallas ACORN is trying to ensure that the rate charged by the state’s Provider of
Last Resort (POLR) will not be exorbitant. Under Texas’ utility deregulation plan,
which began January 1, customers dropped by their regular electric company for non-payment
or other reasons, must be served by the POLR, whose rates are significantly higher than
other utilities, according to press reports.
Kimberly Olsen of Dallas ACORN explained, "The Public Utility Commission has stipulated the POLR rate must be reasonable. What we feel is more reasonable for low-income households is a Percentage of Income Payment Plan." While this issue has not been resolved, ACORN will continue to fight for it. Olsen said ACORN successfully worked out an agreement with TXU, the incumbent utility, which kept 300 households from being shut off.
New Mexico
ACORN members in Albuquerque persuaded the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), the
state’s gas company, to contract with ACORN to provide outreach to potential
recipients of LIHEAP. The outreach is done on a grassroots level that includes
door-to-door canvassing, working with other neighborhood organizations and community
service providers, and placing notices in businesses throughout the community.
According to Matthew Henderson of Albuquerque ACORN, during the first two months of operation the program helped 400 low-income households qualify for LIHEAP and saved at least 60 households from being disconnected. The six-month program will be finished in April. At that time, PNM needs to examine whether it will extend the program or not, Henderson said.
New Jersey
New Jersey ACORN this past summer staged demonstrations against PSE&G’s utility
rates. ACORN also worked with Senator Jon Corzine’s office for a shut-off moratorium
and an improved rate structure for LIHEAP recipients. While those two issues have yet to
be resolved, ACORN did win an agreement with PSE&G that helped its members. PSE&G
agreed to send a utility representative to ACORN’s meetings to work out members’ payment plans or utility service reconnections. From 10 to 25 members showed up for each
bimonthly meeting and they worked with the utility representative to resolve their
situations.
According to Kate Atkin, New Jersey ACORN Head Organizer, the meetings went on until November, when the winter shut-off moratorium went into effect; it ends in March. Atkin said, "We have worked with the Division of Ratepayer Advocate and a coalition of other groups to convince the Board of Public Utilities that a different rate structure, which is based on percentage of income (or PIPP), is needed for people who qualify."
Nationwide
On a national level, ACORN targeted Enron, the now-fallen energy market giant. It sought
action from the federal government that included: a nationwide moratorium on utility
shut-offs for the elderly and families with children, to be funded with an excess profit
tax on wholesale energy suppliers such as Enron; a national price cap on utility rates for
residential customers, and commitments from Enron to devote some of its profits to
assistance and conservation programs for low-income customers. The campaign was launched
with demonstrations at Enron’s offices in eight cities, and a meeting with Enron in
Washington, DC.
In late November 2001, ACORN members held demonstrations in several cities seeking release of the $300 million that Congress appropriated for LIHEAP when it passed the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2001.
For more information about ACORN, visit its website at: http://www.acorn.org.
Three New Funding Sources Bolster
Nevada’s Low Income Energy Assistance
Nevada started its FY 2002 LIHEAP with three new sources of supplemental funding, enabling it to open a Las Vegas office and to extend the program’s operation from eight to eleven months a year.
Part of the funding comes from AB 209, a one-time $4 million appropriation left over from FY 2000 that was enacted on February 21, 2001. The recipient, the Welfare Division of the Department of Human Resources - the state LIHEAP grantee - was allowed to use this funding for both the 2001 and 2002 program years.
According to Linda Mercer, Acting Nevada LIHEAP Director, the number of households in crisis increased dramatically over the past year. "We’ve had over 80 percent increase in applications, so we really need the extra funding," Mercer said. "And, we have used some of the admin portion of the money to initiate the opening of a LIHEAP office in Las Vegas, where 65 percent of our population lives. The office opened the end of October."
Another source of LIHEAP funding comes from AB 661, passed during a special legislative session last summer and signed into law July 17, 2001. Among other things, AB 661 established an ongoing universal energy charge on retail electric and natural gas customers in order to fund low-income energy assistance and conservation.
AB 661 also set forth the criteria to determine the eligibility of a household to receive assistance from the fund, which will total about $10 million annually, and authorized certain agencies to render emergency assistance to households in certain circumstances.
In the summer of 2001, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) started collecting the universal energy charge from customers of Nevada Power, Sierra Pacific Power and Southwest Gas. The charge for residential electric customers is expected to average about 43 cents monthly, for natural gas customers about 16 cents monthly.
The fees are based on consumption and are placed in a fund, 75 percent of which will be distributed to the state’s LIHEAP on a quarterly basis. The remainder of the fund must go to the Nevada Housing Division, the federal Weatherization Assistance Program grantee, to be used for energy efficiency measures for eligible households.
Mercer said the Welfare Division received $1.9 million on October 31, the due date for the first installment. "These non-federal funds will enable us to serve over 30,000 low-income households. The federal funding allows us to serve from 8,000 to 9,000 low-income households. There are currently between 147,000 to 150,000 households within the state that meet the poverty guidelines, and the numbers have probably grown due to thousands of laid off workers resulting from the September 11 crisis," Mercer said. She also explained that LIHEAP began drawing down from the fund the end of December, but it was too soon to tell how many more households were served.
The third source of new funding came from Nevada’s two investor-owned electric utilities. On July 23, Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power Company announced a combined contribution of $5 million to assist low-income customers in their service areas. Beginning August 1, 2001, the funds were to be distributed through the utilities’ existing programs, which are the Special Assistance Fund for Energy (SAFE) and the Low Income Funding Together (LIFT) programs that provide direct financial support to low-income customers to help pay their utility bills.
MichiganPSC Hopes for January Start
of New State Energy Assistance Program
The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has invited public and non-profit organizations to submit proposals to distribute energy payment assistance to low-income households in the state.
The money is part of the Low-Income and Energy Assistance Fund (LIEE) created by Michigan's restructuring legislation. The PSC issued its Request for Proposal (RFP) on December 21, gave applicants a January 10 deadline, and hoped to choose an organization or organizations to distribute assistance monies by the end of January.
Once in place, the LIEE-funded assistance program will supplement existing energy programs by increasing the level of assistance and serving more clients, including some who are not eligible under current guidelines. Its emphasis is to protect low-income households from utility shut-offs and "the inability to purchase deliverable fuels." The program is scheduled to run through the end of September 2002.
The LIEE Fund, which will run for six years, began collecting money in the spring of 2001 and totaled about $20 million as of November 2001. It is designed to provide energy payment assistance and fund energy efficiency programs, both low-income and general. The PSC had planned to address both types of programs in its proposal process last fall, but instead chose to follow its staff recommendation to divide implementation into two parts. Margaret VanHaften, project manager for the PSC's low-income energy assistance RFP, explained that energy payment assistance will be considered first because of its importance during the heating season and because of the relative ease of developing a proposal process.
Energy efficiency programs, on the other hand, necessitate a request for bids for weatherization and other programs as part of the RFP. Commission staff then must evaluate the technology and other aspects of the proposals. The agency hopes to issue a RFP for energy efficiency programs in April.
The low-income energy assistance RFP states that "preference will be given to those organizations currently providing assistance to low-income residents in paying household energy bills," although "applications from other public and non-profit organizations will be considered." That provision, VanHaften said, is designed to jump-start the payment assistance program by encouraging experienced assistance providers to apply. "The PSC wants to get the [assistance] money out of the door as soon as possible," she said.
Michigan organizations that do or have administered energy assistance funds include the Michigan Family Independence Agency, which administers some LIHEAP funds; the Salvation Army, which administers the fuel fund in Consumers Energy territory; The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW), which operates in Detroit Edison's territory; and community action agencies. Any or all of these could submit proposals for part or all of the $15 million earmarked for energy payment assistance.
MN, MO Provide Energy Assistance
From Ad Valorem Tax Refunds
Minnesota’s LIHEAP is $5 million richer this winter due a settlement distribution of some $21 million in Kansas ad valorem tax refunds.
Missouri now has an experimental low-income gas assistance program as a result of negotiations over that state’s ad valorem refunds.
The two states join Colorado and Kansas, which also received funds for low-income energy assistance from Kansas ad valorem refunds (see LIHEAP Networker, Issue # 40, October 2001.)
The Kansas ad valorem tax litigation stems from natural gas producer price overcharges in the period 1983 through 1988. During that time, consumers were charged for certain taxes in violation of the Natural Gas Policy Act. Both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the courts have held that the producers must refund the overcharges.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Missouri Public Utilities Commission, as well as regulators from other state commissions, utilities and customer group advocates negotiated a final settlement with producers in order to bring the money back to the impacted states in a timely manner.
In Minnesota, recommendations for distribution of refunds came from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, the Residential and Small Business Utilities Division of the Office of the Attorney General, the Energy Cents Coalition and the Legal Services Advocacy Project (low-income advocacy groups), along with several gas distribution companies and industrial users.
All parties had varying proposals for distribution of the fund. On August 8, 2001, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission issued an order that 25 percent of the low-income fund, about $5 million, be set aside for low-income assistance. The Commission also designated the state LIHEAP office to administer the funds using Minnesota's current energy assistance guidelines. The funds were to go only to low-income natural gas users for natural gas bills under LIHEAP guidelines.
Minnesota’s LIHEAP began spending the funds with the start of the FY 2002 program and prioritized households meeting the above criteria who had applied for, but hadn’t received LIHEAP last year. As of January 2002, a good portion of the money had been spent, said John Harvanko, state LIHEAP director.
Missouri
In Missouri, advocate Roger Colton, of Fisher Sheehan and Colton, recommended that 30
percent of the refund to which Missouri Gas Energy was entitled be set aside for
low-income rate relief. After extensive negotiations, Colton, the Missouri Consumer
Counsel and other parties settled for creation of a low-income rate assistance pilot in
Missouri Gas Energy (MGE) territory, rather than litigate the issue.
Funding will come from a monthly charge on MGE customers, rather than ad valorem refunds. MGE, which serves approximately 485,000 customers in the state of Missouri, began to enroll households in the pilot last November. The pilot area is Joplin and the target enrollment is 1,000 low-income customers with high arrearages. Participants with incomes at or below 50 percent of federal poverty guidelines will receive a $40 monthly credit on their gas bills; those from 50 to 100 POP will receive a $20 credit. The effectiveness of the two-year pilot will be evaluated by an independent third party.
New Jersey Gets Interim Heating Program
On October 25, 2001, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities ordered the creation of a $15 million interim Universal Service Fund (USF) program to assist low-income consumers with the payment of their electric and gas bills.
The interim USF will provide for immediate funding to meet the needs of customers in this year’s heating season, while work continues on the establishment of a permanent program, as provided for under New Jersey’s 1999 restructuring legislation, which called for the establishment of a non-lapsing USF.
The Board ordered that the program include a one-time fixed credit to eligible customers to be provided by February 15, 2002. The credit is to be based on a formula that takes into account the interim USF budget and the number of eligible customers. New Jersey customers with a gross income that is at or below 175 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, and who are responsible for their electric and gas bills, are eligible. Funding will come from a universal service charge assessed on customers of six electric and gas utilities. Another utility, GPU, will be permitted to implement its previously approved USF pilot program, costing about $2 million, instead of the interim program.
Each gas and electric utility was ordered to submit a compliance filing specifying their allocation of the $15 million within 45 days of the Board order; they also must establish an
extensive education program to ensure those eligible customers are aware of the interim USF. The program will include education and training through direct mail, bill inserts and web sites, as well as coordination with customer assistance program agencies.
The permanent USF, about which the board is expected to issue another order early next year, will build upon already existing utility assistance programs.
New Orleans Gets $6 million PBF
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 said was 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.
Ohio Launches Energy Efficiency Program
For High Consumption Low-income
A new energy efficiency program has been launched in Ohio that will target low-income households with high electric consumption and also provide them with energy conservation education.
The Targeted Energy Efficiency (TEE) Program was provided for under Ohio’s 1999 electric restructuring legislation. Its goal is to reduce electric consumption by households in the state’s Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) in order to reduce the amount of money ratepayers pay to support the PIPP. Funding comes from the electric universal service rider of approximately $75.6 million per year, of which $14 million has been designated for the TEE and consumer education (CE) programs in the territories of five investor-owned utilities that cover a large part of the state.
The programs are targeted to high consumption, high arrears PIPP households. The Ohio Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE), which administers Ohio’s Home Weatherization Assistance Program (HWAP) and the TEE, coordinates with the Office of Community Services, which administers LIHEAP and the PIPP, to monitor monthly consumption, bill payment and arrearage data from electric utilities for their PIPP accounts. Households whose total energy burdens exceed a certain threshold are eligible for TEE and CE services.
In September 2001, the OEE chose providers for delivery of TEE and CE services. Many agencies selected are HWAP subgrantees that also deliver gas utility weatherization programs. Crews were trained during the fall for TEE and program installations began in December. As of January, training was under development for the conservation education component.
According to Tim Lenahan, OEE Residential Programs Manager, crew members conduct a computerized audit of each eligible dwelling unit through which they can analyze consumption and identify the major electricity users. Based on the audit results, the crews look at individual solutions for each unit, rather than a prescribed set of measures. For example, Lenahan said, one household may be consuming excess electricity due to a television set, another due to an inadequately covered water bed.
Measures could include the more common electric ones such as lighting, refrigerator and electric appliance replacement, or less common measures as such as water bed covers or replacements, or even heat pumps or solar measures. TEE can also install typical conservation measures such as attic or wall insulation in all-electric homes.
However, the TEE program reimburses agencies only for measures that have a cost benefit ratio of 1 or greater. Where possible, units are piggybacked with the Ohio HWAP and gas utility weatherization programs, so that measures not eligible under the TEE can be completed under those programs, or costs can be shared.
While OEE has targeted about 7,000 to 8,000 units per year for completion under TEE, Lenahan said that because the program is so new and different it’s difficult to predict how many units will be completed.
Lenahan emphasized the importance of the consumer education component in impacting client behavior in order to reduce electrical usage. Ohio’s consumer education package is based on a model pioneered by Niagara Mohawk, a New York utility, in the 1980s. Niagara Mohawk’s program evaluations found that energy savings were higher in homes where participants had several one-on-one energy education sessions combined with weatherization than in homes that had only weatherization. Evaluations also found that the savings from energy education persisted over time.
The Ohio TEE approach will go beyond the Niagara Mohawk model by customizing it as needed for Ohio, Lenahan said. OEE is in the process of choosing a contractor to design the consumer education program.
Ohio’s HWAP has been evaluated and found to be one of the top-performing weatherization programs in the country. According to a recent evaluation HWAP households that heated with gas reduced their gas used for space heating by an average of 29 percent. The same evaluation also estimated that PIPP participation was reduced by about 25 percent after HWAP. Whether the successes of HWAP will transfer to the TEE remains to be seen, Lenahan said.
Under PIPP, mandated in Ohio since 1983, qualifying low-income households of investor owned gas and electric utilities pay no more than 15 percent of their income to their heating and/or electricity providers. The shortfall between the PIPP payment and other energy assistance the customer may receive and the actual bill is recovered through a ratepayer surcharge or PIPP rider. The electric utility restructuring legislation established a Universal Service Fund that incorporated Ohio's existing low-income programs, including the PIPP, and created the TEE.
"Energy Assistance Program Energy Task Force Final Report," Minnesota Department of Administration, Management Analysis Division, December 200l. This report provides policy, operational, and overall program improvement recommendations for Minnesota’s Energy Assistance Program based on consensus from a statewide task force of key stakeholders (customers and advocates, delivery agencies, state department staff and vendors). Includes the ask force’s refined mission for EAP, a vision and values statement, program outcomes and specific strategies. Also includes appendices on program specifics such as outreach, vendor agreements, eligibility and applications.
"In Harm’s Way: Home Heating, Fire Hazards and Low-Income Households," National Fuel Funds Network, December 2001. Highlights the safety hazards low-income households face due to unsafe alternative methods for heating, provides statistics on home heating fire deaths and injuries, and outlines suggested partnerships for fire prevention in low-income households. Available at: www.nationalfuelfunds.org/Publications/toolkits/toolkit1.pdf
February 8-17: National Energy Help Week. Sponsored by the National Fuel Funds Network to highlight fuel funds and the need for them as low-income energy solutions.
March 5: National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA) winter meeting, Washington D.C.
May 6-8: National Community Action Foundation's Energy Programs Leveraging Conference, Crowne Plaza Hotel, White Plains, New York.
June 23-24: National Fuel Funds Network, 18th Annual Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
June 24: National Energy Assistance Directors’Association Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
June 24-27: National Low Income Energy Consortium, 16th Annual Conference, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
August 5-6: HHS LIHEAP Training and Technical Assistance Workshop, Wyndham Hotel, 1400 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.