A coming spike in home heating bills this winter has Xcel Energy, other utilities and state agencies across the nation digging for funds to help low-income households.
Xcel said Wednesday it plans to donate up to $5.4 million this winter to help low-income Coloradans heat their homes. Last year, Xcel spent $3.65 million on assistance.
Recipients who qualify can get a one-time $300 payment to help cover winter heating bills. Combined heating and electric bills for a typical residential customer will increase from $180 a month last winter to an estimated $240 a month this winter.
“I’m hoping I get some assistance,” said Shannon Heit, an unemployed single mother of two in Denver. “I think it’s going to be a very tough winter.”
Heit receives $1,900 a month in Social Security payments. Her house payment is $1,400, leaving $500 a month for all other household expenses, including utilities.
Maximum household incomes to be eligible for assistance range from $17,700 a year for a single person to $35,796 for a family of four.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Department predicted that winter heating bills will be one- third to one-half higher than last year for most families across the country – an average of $350 more for natural-gas users and $378 more for fuel-oil users for the winter season.
“Colorado residents will be facing perhaps the most difficult winter ever for energy costs,” said Richard Kelly, chief executive of Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy, who was in Denver on Wednesday to make the announcement. “These steep increases in heating costs add up to suffering for many of our customers.”
Natural-gas prices have tripled in the past two years, leaving millions of households nationwide with tough choices to make between heating their homes or paying for other essentials.
Xcel, which with 1.5 million Colorado customers is the state’s largest utility, is predicting a 35 percent increase in home heating costs this winter compared with last winter’s record-high costs.
In addition, electricity costs for Xcel customers will rise 30 percent beginning Nov. 1.
Colorado agencies that help low-income residents pay their utility bills say demand for assistance this year will far outstrip available funding.
Xcel’s donations consist of:
$2 million to Energy Outreach Colorado, an agency that distributes financial assistance to charities and nonprofit groups.
Up to $1 million to match other donations to Energy Outreach Colorado from businesses and individuals.
$2.4 million to Energy Saving Partners, a program that funds energy-efficiency improvements in low-income households.
Colorado in recent years has diverted up to $10 million a year from mineral-severance tax revenues and other sources to supplement the state’s $30 million payment from the federal Low Income Energy Assistance Program.
The state legislature is expected to consider a similar appropriation in the session that begins in January.
Winter temperatures in the Rocky Mountain West are expected to be slightly above normal, according to a long- range forecast by AccuWeather.com. That should help lessen demand for natural gas in Colorado, AccuWeather spokesman Ken Reeves said.
But many of the states east of the Mississippi River will be colder than last winter, Reeves said, causing a sharper increase in home heating costs.
Ohio has freed up an additional $75 million for heating assistance for the needy, and Wisconsin has added $16 million. Iowa officials set up a website to give people advice on how to save energy and get aid, but they acknowledged that may not be enough.
People “can only turn the thermostat so low before it affects your health and well- being,” said Jerry McKim, chief of Iowa’s Bureau of Energy Assistance, which helps poor families pay their utility bills. “This is a life-or-death matter. I have serious anxiety about what folks will face this winter.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff writer Steve Raabe can be reached at 303-820-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com.
Where to call: Information on low-income energy assistance. 1-866-432-8435
$240
Estimated monthly natural-gas and electric bill for an average Colorado resident this winter, up from $180 last year; the U.S. Energy Department predicts bills will increase by as much as half
$350
Average that U.S. families will pay more this winter for natural gas
$378
Average that U.S. families will pay more this winter for fuel oil
$10 MILLION
Amount Colorado has made available in past years for the needy to pay utility bills, in addition to $30 million in federal funds; Ohio is contributing $75 million this year
