All winter long, social service agencies were reeling from the number of people seeking assistance to pay utility bills.

Monday, June 04, 2001

All winter long, social service agencies were reeling from the number of people seeking assistance to pay utility bills.

The situation went from bad to worse last week.

Thirty new disconnect notices by Austin Utilities last week has exacerbated the problem.

Lori Espe, volunteer coordinator for the Salvation Army Austin Corps, said, "We’re running low on funds to help pay the utility bills, but we’ve got a little left."

That was Friday afternoon in the midst of the quickly escalating crisis.

An Austin Utilities spokesperson confirmed Friday that 30 disconnect notices were mailed to residents Thursday.

"These are people who have not made any attempt to pay their bills since last November," said Jerry McCarty, general manager.

"By state law, we cannot disconnect anyone through the winter, but each year when spring arrives and the temperatures warm up, we have to go through our accounts and try to get them cleared before next winter," McCarthy said.

Throughout the winter, high utility bills tapped the resources of everyone, but especially those living on fixed incomes or public assistance. The delay in winter’s cold weather departing and being replaced by a warm spring has stretched the situation into June.

Espe said the Salvation Army already has helped two families who had their utility service disconnected by Austin Utilities for non-payment of bills.

"One was a mother and small child and the other was a parent and a teen-ager," Espe said.

Semcac exhausted its available funds Thursday and informed Espe of the situation.

The Salvation Army also has nearly depleted its Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for paying energy bills.

In addition, a special grant from the United Way of Mower County Inc. is nearly exhausted.

No less than 32 families applied for and received the $5,000 in Heat Share monies made available by Austin Utilities.

Now, the Salvation Army has but a little money left to help pay utility bills and soon will have to stop taking applications when it is gone.

"We’ve been hit really hard all winter long, but it seems to have gotten worse," Espe said.

While energy costs have steadily risen and utilities have passed along the increases they must pay their suppliers, the real impact hasn’t been known until now.

"We’re seeing bills that range from a low of $1,000 to as high as $2,100," Espe said. "That’s a lot of money for anyone.

"They may be for more than a single month, but people are obviously not able to pay even a single month’s utility bill and, therefore, they can’t pay two or more either," she said.

According to Espe, the Salvation Army is working with other social service agencies, including the Mower County Department of Human Services and Semcac to see where other available monies are to help people pay their utility bills.

McCarthy said Austin Utilities is working with its customers and social service agencies.

"Anyone who shows a good-faith effort to make payment before the disconnect deadline will be taken into account," McCarthy said. "We will work with them if they will work with us. The disconnect is only used as a last resort."

Call Lee Bonorden at 434-2232 or e-mail him at lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com.