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Another energy problem brewing in U.S. heating bills Monday April 16, 5:46 PM EDT

By Karen Pierog

CHICAGO, April 16 (Reuters) - Another energy problem is brewing in the U.S. Midwest where thousands of people face the prospect of having their home heating service shut off because they did not pay rising winter heating bills.

Energy companies were ready to beginning canceling service to delinquent home heaters this week. But some delayed action temporarily because an unusual springtime cold front would have left those customers without heat and prompted more protests that the companies are cold-hearted.

The hangover from rising home heating bills is just the latest in a string of energy woes hitting the U.S., from rising gasoline prices at the pump to California's electricity shortage.

Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, said the cold winter and high gas prices have resulted in big debts owed to utility companies and an increase in expected shut-offs of service nationwide.

Earlier this month his group, which represents state directors of low-income home energy assistance programs, reported that as many as 3.6 million families in 18 states as well as the District of Columbia face losing energy service because they have not been able to keep up with skyrocketing bills.

"Utilities don't want to shut people off. It's expensive to go through the process," he said, adding that utilities in several states had the green light on Monday to begin shutting off service to delinquent customers.

In Chicago, community activists, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, faced off with the local gas company on Monday over promised shut-offs of gas service to nonpaying customers.

The protest, which was aimed at blocking trucks dispatched to disconnect gas service, ended as unseasonably cold weather prohibited Peoples Energy Corp. (PGL) from cutting service to any residents for the time being.

The Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates utilities, prohibits shut-offs if temperatures are expected to drop below freezing.

With a warm up in temperatures forecast for later in the week, Madeline Talbott, a head organizer with Illinois ACORN, a community organization of low and moderate-income families, said her group will resume its blockade and risk being jailed in order to stop "life threatening" shut-offs.

"We're saying this winter was a terrible, terrible, terrible heating bill season for us and wonderful for them. They have to show some kind of patience," she said, pointing out that senior citizens and poor families were most at risk for hypothermia or fires resulting from unsafe heating units.

Peoples Energy, which gave customers a two-week reprieve from disconnections earlier this month, said Monday that immediate shut-offs for less than 200 customers will be postponed two days due to the cold weather. The utility also said that the number of customers ultimately facing disconnection fell to 14,800 from more than 24,000 over the last two weeks.

"We are working with community leaders and the city to minimize the number of service disconnections," said Richard Terry, Peoples' chief executive officer.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Commerce Commission scheduled a hearing for next week on a petition filed by former state Treasurer Pat Quinn and others asking for a 150-day moratorium on gas disconnections.

In Cleveland, Mayor Michael White announced his support for a protest set for Tuesday seeking an extension for local gas company shut-offs.

Madison, Wisc.-based Alliant Energy Corp. (LNT), which provides gas and electric services to parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, will be sending out 10-day disconnection notices to those customers with their next bill, according to Dan Presser, an Alliant spokesman.

The utility saw double-digit increases in the number of customers not fully paying their bills this winter.

The company reported 151,539 customers owe the utility $28.2 million for the just-ended winter, compared to 124,535 customers who were $16.6 million in arrears last winter.

"We are promising to be very flexible because we realize it was a challenging winter for everybody," Presser said.

Like in Chicago, Monday's cold weather stopped Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) from commencing cut-offs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota and South Dakota, according to Pat Boland, low-income assistance supervisor for the Minneapolis-based utility. As of April 1, about 40,000 of Xcel's Minnesota customers were in arrears, he added.

Some states have taken steps to forestall shut-offs.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio prohibited utilities from shutting off residential customers for 60 days starting Jan. 25. That and a 25-day disconnection notification process will disallow until the end of this week any shut-offs to customers who have made no payments, said Beth Gianforcaro, a commission spokeswoman.

In Kansas, the state's corporation commission's 60-day moratorium, which prevented shut-offs until May 31, was successfully challenged by several gas distributors, according to Rosemary Foreman, a commission spokeswoman. She said the challenge shaved the moratorium to 30 days, allowing shut-offs to begin April 30.

Foreman said about 30,000 to 40,000 customers were behind in their utility bills as of the end of March. However, they can still enter into a 12-month payment plan until the end of May, she added.

The Iowa Utilities Board used an emergency rule to extend the shut-off moratorium one month to May 1 for low-income residents.

http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&news_id=reu-n16518227&feed=reu&date=20010416&cat=INDUSTRY

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 17, 2001