More Americans Struggling With Energy Poverty

"After struggling with soaring heating costs through the winter, millions of Americans are behind on electric and gas bills, and a record number of families could face energy shut-offs over the next two months, according to state energy officials and utilities around the country.

The escalating costs of heating oil, propane and kerosene, most commonly used in the Northeast, have posed the greatest burdens, officials say, but natural gas and electricity prices have also climbed at a time when low-end incomes are stagnant and prices have also jumped for food and gasoline.

In New Hampshire, applicants for fuel subsidies under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program received an average of $600 in a one-time grant and up to $975 for the extremely poor who rely on heating oil or propane, the costliest fuels. But those grants, which in recent years have covered 60 percent of heating costs, covered only about 35 percent of those costs this winter, said Celeste Lovett, director of the state's energy aid program. The state will have given aid to about 34,500 people by the end of April, Ms. Lovett said, a 5 percent increase over last year and the highest number ever.

Under the federal aid program, at least 5.8 million households will have received grants to help with heating bills in this fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, which is an increase of 3.7 percent from last year, according to figures to be issued Friday by the Energy Assistance Directors' Association.

The federal assistance program, known as Liheap, was started in 1980, to help families cope with sharply rising oil prices and energy deregulation, and it has become a routine part of the safety net. Unlike food stamps, which the government must automatically provide to eligible applicants, the program relies on annual Congressional appropriations that have not risen as much as the cost of energy.

Many states are calling on Congress to quickly add a $1 billion supplement to the federal aid program, which has provided $2.6 billion to low-income families in the current fiscal year.

Without extra aid, people who still owe large sums to oil vendors will not be able to get deliveries next fall...and many who did not pay electric and gas bills during New Hampshire's winter moratorium on shut-offs may soon lose those services."