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Demand for financial assistance rises with heating bills
Thursday, January 5, 2006
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
With heating costs growing far faster than inflation this year more central Ohioans are searching for assistance programs and conservation tips.
The Home Energy Assistance Program , or HEAP, is a state-funded program in the Ohio Department of Development that provides residents with a one-time payout to help with heating costs. According to the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, a residential utility advocate, 330,000 Ohio households received aid from HEAP in 2004; in October Gov. Bob Taft said he estimates that number to grow to nearly 400,000 this winter.
The reason for the increase in the need for aid is the rapidly rising price of natural gas.
According to Tom Hauck, spokesman for Columbia Gas of Ohio, natural gas service this month will cost the average residential customer $315.90, which is nearly 50 percent higher than January 2005's average bill.
A long-term slowdown in gas well drilling and this past hurricane season's disruption of short-term production on the resource-rich Gulf Coast have created supply shortages and, ultimately, skyrocketing prices, he said.
Fortunately for Ohioans, there are a number of options available to help them deal with the financial hardship the larger heating bills may cause.
The most direct way to cut costs is to cut usage, and there are a variety of inexpensive ways to conserve a home's heating fuel, Hauck said.
Primarily, residents can turn down their thermostats. Households can save as much as 3 percent on their natural gas bills for every degree they reduce their thermostats, Hauck said. For a few dollars, residents may also purchase from home-improvement stores a programmable thermostat control that works much like a timer on a lamp, he said. Using this device, residents can set their furnaces to turn off during the day while they are at work or during the evening while they are asleep and program them to fire back up when desired.
Additionally, residents should caulk around leaky windows, change furnace filters every month, increase insulation, cut vents to unused rooms and install more efficient shower heads, which require less energy to run, he said. More tips can be found on Columbia Gas' Web site.
Columbia customers may also mitigate some of the effects of the price increases by enrolling in the company's budget payment plan, Hauck said. Through this system customers every month pay the set amount that is determined by their historical usage, temperature trends and projected prices for natural gas. The budget plan, which Hauck said is best to enroll in around August, allows customers to build up credit during low-usage months, which will then help pay higher bills during the winter. Columbia customers can enroll by sending in the stated budget plan amount that is listed on their monthly bill or by calling the company's customer service line.
There are other payment plans available in which customers can pay down past-due bills in installments or dedicate a portion of their gross monthly income toward their heating costs.
If conservative practices and payment plans still do not make heating bills manageable central Ohioans can seek assistance from programs such as HEAP.
Households that meet the income eligibility requirements can receive HEAP's one-time aid payouts, which differ from home to home. Residents can obtain more information about the program by contacting the Ohio Department of Development at 1-800-282-0880.
To apply for the program, residents must present 12 months of income records, a Social Security card and copies of their gas or electric bills.
The state also offers an Emergency HEAP program for Ohioans that have received a utility disconnection notice or have less than 10-day supply of a bulk heating fuel. To apply for this program -- which provides approximately $450 for propane, kerosene or fuel oil, and $250 for coal or wood -- residents need to present household income records for the last 13 weeks, Social Security card and copies of heating bills or bulk fuel invoices.
Information on other assistance programs can be obtained through the Community Action Agency, Ohio Consumers' Counsel and Columbia Gas.
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