Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Mild winter doesn’t spare emergency heating program

  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • March 23, 2012
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Anti-poverty advocates say an extremely mild winter couldn’t undo all the damage from deep federal budget cuts to Connecticut’s heating assistance program.

“In many ways this has been one of our most difficult years in trying to serve energy customers,” said Amos Smith, president of the Connecticut Association for Community Action.

“I recognize this was a somewhat miraculous winter,” said Shirley Bergert, an administrator with the Windham-based Connecticut Legal Services. “But we didn’t do any planning for massive spring shutoffs” of electric service.

LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, began a month late, with reduced funding for benefits and administration. The federally funded program is administered by the states, typically with help frpm private, nonprofit social service agencies.

Connecticut’s concerns about emergency heating for the winter of 2011-12 began one year ago when President Obama recommended slashing LIHEAP funding in half.

Based on that recommendation, the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy assumed Connecticut, which had received $98 million in 2010-11, would have $46.4 million to spend. It proposed limiting benefits only to needy households heated by deliverable fuels, such as oil. Malloy noted that households heated by electric and gas utilities are protected from having their utilities turned off in the winter.

State lawmakers raised the LIHEAP budget to $61.6 million, agreeing to commit state resources if actual federal funding came up short. The legislature’s plan provided reduced benefits to households served by deliverable fuels or by utilities, but utility customers weren’t eligible for a second round of emergency aid.

Bergert noted Friday at a meeting with state legislators that both the governor’s proposal and the legislature’s plan appear to run afoul of state law, which mandates a LIHEAP assistance plan “that does not discriminate against such households based on the type of energy used for heating.”

“It was clear attention wasn’t paid to the statute,” Rep. Vicki Nardello, D-Prospect, co-chairwoman of the Energy and Technology Committee, said.

Tom O’Brien, a public assistance consultant with the state Department of Social Services, said that because of surplus funding in the program, the agency is planning to issue supplemental grants of $200 to utility-served households that received assistance under the program.

That surplus stems not only from the mild winter and the scaled-back program rules, but also because the federal government ultimately put more into the proposal than Obama sought, but less than the prior year, and Connecticut received $79.7 million.

The state has about $19.6 million left over. And after 10 percent is set aside to help fund next winter’s program — the maximum allowed under federal LIHEAP rules — the remaining $11.9 million can be distributed to utility-heated households, DSS officials told Nardello’s committee.

But even with that additional aid, grants to utility-served clients dropped 32 percent this past winter, while relief for those served by deliverable fuels dropped just 27 percent.

Besides the inequity, another problem involves the late timing of this relief, Bergert said.

Utilities, such as Connecticut Light & Power Co. and Yankee Gas, offer a matching program that helps poor households that are delinquent on their bills reduce their debts. The utilities offer credits to help reduce this debt, provided these households are making regular payments to cover their current bills.

But Bergert noted that many needy households already have failed to stay on these plans, but might have been able to keep up with their bills had more relief been available sooner.

Linda Parke, project manager for economic development and community relations with Northeast Utilities — the parent company for CL&P and Yankee Gas — confirmed this problem.

Parke told lawmakers that only 32 percent of the 47,312 CL&P customers who are fell into arrears are keeping up with their current bills while also trying to pay off their debt. And just 18 percent of the 14,832 Yankee Gas customers with overdue bills are making progress eliminating their debt.

Though state legislators won’t resolve next winter’s LIHEAP budget and benefit levels until the fall, Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, said it might make sense not to tighten levels too much, even if faced with more cutbacks in federal funding.

“It seems reasonable to not be as conservative,” he said, but quickly added that if Connecticut guesses wrong on aid from Capitol Hill, it would have to find the funds within the state’s budget.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Pandemic eases, and complicates, legislating
by Mark Pazniokas

The legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee co-chairs skipped the masks, but they were very socially distant.

Health issues carried weight on the campaign trail.
by Victoria Knight | Kaiser Health News

Even with the Democrats’ newfound Senate majority, differences in health policy between the party’s moderate and progressive wings will persist.

Trump’s pardons included health care execs behind massive fraud
by Fred Schulte | Kaiser Health News

At the last minute, President Donald Trump granted pardons to several individuals convicted in huge Medicare swindles that prosecutors alleged often harmed or endangered elderly and infirm patients while fleecing taxpayers. “These aren’t just technical financial crimes. These were major, major crimes,” said Louis Saccoccio, chief executive officer of the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, […]

‘It’s a nightmare:’ A growing number of seniors are unable to book vaccine appointments as problems mount
by Dave Altimari and Jenna Carlesso

The state acknowledged Friday in an email to local health workers that some residents are waiting days for a callback.

Panel recommends small, inflationary pay hike for state officials
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Connecticut's part-time legislature hasn't received a pay hike since 2001. The annual base-pay for senators and representatives is $28,000.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Miguel Cardona, who are you?
by Ann Policelli Cronin

When I ask Connecticut teachers about Miguel Cardona, those who know him or have worked with him say that he is really nice guy who knows what the challenges in our classrooms are, knows how to help teachers to improve their teaching, and respects public schools. All good. But what is his vision for teaching and learning that he will bring to the U.S. Department of Education?

Opinion Connecticut needs a strong two-party system, this Democrat says
by Edward Marcus

J.R. Romano’s recent resignation as the state’s Republican Party chair has brought into focus the need for a viable opposition party in Connecticut. It is not healthy politics when everything is totally controlled by one party:  the legislature, the governorship, and most of the major municipalities in our state.

Opinion Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Opinion Inconsistent television captioning is a barrier to equal access
by Jeffrey Bravin and Barbara Cassin

Our world long ago entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and a full understanding of the “who, what, when, where and why” of the news is critical for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing citizens. Yet, Connecticut’s inconsistent quality of television captioning locks our community out of the complete sense of what is happening.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO