Five million homes need help paying fuel bills-survey

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Five million homes need help paying fuel bills-survey

Thursday February 15, 12:44 PM EST WASHINGTON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Soaring prices for natural gas, heating oil and propane mean nearly 5 million poor American families may need government help paying winter heating bills, according to a survey released on Thursday.

That would be an increase of 26 percent over last year, when 3.9 million impoverished households sought help, said the survey by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.

"Prices soar, temperatures plummet and poor families are left out in the cold," said Mark Wolfe, head of the group. "We're talking about elderly, or disabled people, or a family with young children, usually making less than $10,000 per year."

Wolfe said at least 4.9 million households were expected to apply for help under the federal government's Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The average benefit paid by the government will be about $350, he said.

Consumer advocates and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have urged the White House to increase the funds available to poor families under the program. In December, the Consumer Federation of America estimated that more than 1 million poor families may have their heat shut off this winter because they cannot pay their bills.

Federal funding for the low-income energy assistance program was increased from $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion in fiscal 2000. Last December, President Clinton released an additional $855 million in program emergency funds.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast in December that Americans would pay an average of $1,044 for heating oil this winter, up from $760 last year. Natural gas heating costs will rise to an estimated $834 for the winter, compared to $540 last year.

The biggest percentage increases in families seeking government help were expected in Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahaom, Oregon, Nebraska, Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and Washington, according to the survey.

http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&news_id=reu-n15129919&feed=reu&date=20010215&cat=INDUSTRY

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), February 15, 2001


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