Posted: Friday, January 19, 2001 | 7:33 p.m.

By Jim Gallagher Of the Post-Dispatch

Sadie Knox, an elderly widow, had about $10 to her name Friday. Of that, she could spare only $2 to help satisfy her $387 Laclede Gas bill.

She paid it in pennies, handing them personally to a worker in Laclede's downtown headquarters.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now brought Knox and about 10 other penny-toting protesters to Laclede's office Friday. They want the company to stop cutting off service to customers who can't pay this season's sky-high gas bills. Knox, 70, held her purse open to show a reporter all the money she owns. It was $6 in bills and some loose change.

"I don't get but $751 a month from Social Security," she said. Out of that, she pays $306 toward a loan on her house. Add food and utilities and Knox says she's strapped.

"I won't be buying food if I'll be paying these high bills," said Knox, who lives alone in St. Louis.

Laclede a week ago applied for its second rate increase of the season. The application, which is expected to be approved, will boost the average heating bill to double that of last year.

Both increases pass to consumers the rising wholesale price of gas. Laclede says the increases mean no new profits for the company.

ACORN says Laclede has been stingy in its own donations to programs that help the poor with energy bills. The company gave a bit more than $100,000 to its own "Dollar-Help" program, while Laclede's customers gave $500,000 through a check-off on their gas bills.

"They should at least match that," said Gail Shumpert, an ACORN leader who owes a $650 gas bill.

ACORN notes that Laclede made a $26 million profit in the 12 months that ended in September. Chief Executive D.H. Yaeger was paid about $400,000 in 1999, according to the company proxy. ACORN also notes that the company paid $713,000 to its former chairman, Robert Jaudes, in 1998.

"We're coming out with nothing. They're coming out on top," said ACORN protester Annette Alan.

Laclede vice president John Moten says Laclede pays about 80 percent of its profits to its stockholders in dividends. Donating more to the poor "would put us in a difficult situation," he said.

He said Laclede is considered a "widows and orphans" stock - a low-risk stock held by individual shareholders who depend on dividends.

Besides contributing to Dollar-Help, Moten says the company also helps poor customers by, in effect, lending people the amount of their unpaid bills.

If customers can come up with about half the unpaid balance, Laclede will allow them to repay the rest over the next one or two years, Moten said. Since Laclede borrows money to buy gas, the unpaid bills put an interest burden on Laclede, he said.

The company was carrying $10 million in unpaid bills last year, and the figure is higher now, he said. The average delinquent customer owes $500.

ACORN notes that Laclede adds late fees to unpaid bills, which makes it harder for customers to catch up. It wants Laclede to stop the practice.

Missouri forbids gas companies from cutting service when the forecast calls for temperatures under 30 degrees. But ACORN wants a ban on all cutoffs until March 31.

Moten said he didn't not know the number of people shut off for not paying bills, but the number of cutoffs is "absolutely minimal."

People who can't afford to pay can call the state Energy Assistance Office in their counties. The number for St. Louis and St. Louis County is 314-340-7600. More information on those programs also is available from the United Way at 800-427-4626.

http://www.postnet.com/postnet/stories.nsf/News/Headlines/DD68AEFB71BC0A06862569DA00088CAB?OpenDocument&Headline=Protesters%20pay%20their%20gas%20bills%20in%20pennies%20at%20Laclede%20office

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), January 20, 2001