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Demand high for home heating assistance

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By Richard Wilson, Staff Writer 8:20 PM Monday, November 30, 2009

HAMILTON — As winter nears and the economy remains sluggish, more folks need help paying their utility bills.

Joyce Nole of the 100 block of Village Street in Hamilton, said her water was shut off because she owed the city about $238.

Nole said she didn’t qualify for assistance at one local ministry and despite being in the hospital when the disconnection notice came, the city wouldn’t continue service for a partial payment.

“I would have had all the money in five or six days, but they weren’t willing to work with me,” she said.

The city utilities department doesn’t allow extensions for accounts that aren’t paid on a monthly basis, said Vivian Crooks, Hamilton customer service administrator.

“Even though utilities are very important and essential, it’s still a commodity,” Crooks said. “It’s not that we’re not compassionate... we have to base bills on usage.”

If a bill isn’t paid for two months, Crooks said city residents get a notice on a door hanger that disconnection will occur unless the arrears are paid in full. But if a payment arrangement has been made and broken, she said residents are subject to immediate disconnection without notice.

In other parts of the county, residents can avoid disconnection with partial payments because there are different rules governing investor-owned utilities like Duke Energy, said Jeffrey Diver, executive director of Supports to Encourage Low-Income Families.

SELF administers the Home Energy Assistance Program. A family of four with a household income below $44,100 can qualify for help. Diver said SELF is seeing unprecedented levels of demand.

Last HEAP season, which runs from November to March, SELF provided roughly $900,000 to about 3,700 Butler County households through HEAP, a record-breaking year. Compared to last year, this year’s demand is already 20 to 25 percent higher, Diver said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2122 or rwilson@coxohio.com.

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