Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Traverse County

March 13, 2010

Utility bills taking toll on locals' budgets

Aid agencies say available funds are going quickly

BY LINDSAY VANHULLE

TRAVERSE CITY -- Sandra Alvarez was close to having her heat and electricity shut off when she walked into Deb Haase's office.

Alvarez owed hundreds of dollars on her gas and electric bills. She had never been a Father Fred Foundation client, but now she sat across from Haase to ask for help with her payments.

Unemployed for health reasons, Alvarez receives fixed Social Security disability funds at the end of each month. But her bills are due earlier than that.

"I would like to -- like most Americans, I think -- be three months ahead," said Alvarez, of Fife Lake. "With the late charges and everything, it just keeps perpetuating."

Haase, Father Fred's client assistance administrator, sees people like Alvarez each day. Their reasons, however varied, are effects of recession: Unemployment. Underemployment. Pay freezes. Wage cuts.

The results are crowded lobbies at human services agencies and a supply of energy assistance money that doesn't last long.

Father Fred, for one, set a weekly spending limit of $7,600 to better budget expenses. On Thursday, they exceeded their daily allowance in less than two hours and couldn't help any other clients with financial needs that day.

The agency gave out roughly $41,000 for utilities in 196 visits during the first two months of this year, Haase said. Each family is allowed $400 in yearly financial help, which could include needs other than utilities.

Father Fred only pays the minimum to avoid utility shutoffs, and requires clients to first seek help from the state Department of Human Services.

"We realize we're doing what we can," Haase said. "You can't help but worry."

Much of the region receives natural gas from Detroit-based DTE Energy, which in January increased distribution rates for the first time in five years, spokesman Len Singer said.

The average customer should have noticed a $7 or $8 rise there, but the change is offset on the bill by falling gas prices. Natural gas dropped 35 cents per thousand cubic feet since November, Singer said.

Customers "shouldn't be seeing great differences in their gas bills this winter," he said.

Regardless, more people are signing up for the company's budget plans as the state struggles to recover from the downturn.

"Natural gas is like anything. It's a supply-and-demand commodity," he said. "The economy being what it is, there's a lower demand."

Propane costs between $2 and $2.50 per gallon, and fuel oil prices are running closer to $2.75, said Val Stone, community services coordinator with the Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency.

The agency ran through about $150,000 in state aid funds and $200,000 in federal money within months of receipt. About $10,000 remains from a January fundraiser that raised $22,000.

At least 100 more families have asked for help this year compared to last, Stone said. Clients are limited to about $200.

"It's going very quickly," she said. "We'll have nothing to go into the fall."

Marc Ryan, of Traverse City, said he paid $159 for propane in September and more than $300 in February. His electric bill rose to more than $200 after he tried to limit his fuel usage.

"Trying to save on propane by using electric heaters, and I don't save on anything," Ryan said.

People often have to make difficult choices, such as whether to pay for rent or heat and groceries, several agency workers said. Little financial aid is available for housing.

Sometimes, that decision can send someone over the edge, said Georgia Durga, Grand Traverse County Commission on Aging director.

Durga budgeted $100,000 for financial assistance this year. So far, eight people asked for heating help. In 2009, 50 people did, making it the largest of all financial categories.

"A lot of the people we help, they just need that one-time catch-up," she said. "They went into the hospital and they had a high heating bill, and they just didn't have enough money to do both."

Alvarez dials down her thermostat to 68 degrees and avoids a gas fireplace because of the added expense.

"If it's cold in the house, I put a few extra clothes on," she said. "All the ducts in the house need to be checked. There's a lot of space where heat's escaping."

She's grateful Father Fred could cover her heat bill and pay a portion of her electric bill, which reached her $400 limit. She hopes she won't have to go there again.

Text Only