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Special for Review Magazine
SLUMPS, SHUT-OFFS & THE POLITICS BEHIND
HEATING YOUR HOME
By Mike Thompson Good insulation and extra blankets can help low-and low-middle income families avoid the tragedy of a home-heating utility shutoff.
Knowledge of legal rights also can
make a difference. That's where Deb Pratt often comes into
the picture.
As a paralegal at Legal Services of
Eastern Michigan for nearly 20 years, Pratt has overseen
hundreds of customers' encounters with Consumers Energy when
bills become overdue.
"Their clerks can be very, very
difficult. Too many of them tend to be rude and not very nice," is
Pratt’s first piece of insight.
"It's very important to go higher up
and insist on speaking with a customer services representative. If a
payment plan is negotiated, make sure to get it in writing. At the
same time, send letters back to Consumers in which you confirm the
results of phone conversations, and always include the account
number."
Consumers Energy did not have a
response, when Review Magazine went to press, for
statements made by Pratt and other advocates who sometimes are
displeased with their perceptions that the utility lacks a
responsive staff at the customer level.
Tom Begin, area manager in
Saginaw, provided initial information to The Review a
full month ago and was extremely cooperative, but he later said he
was directed to steer some questions to a higher executive, Mary
Gust. An email from Gust outlined various Consumers Energy
payment plans, but Begin already had provided this information in a
set of brochures. Gust did not return calls over a span of nearly
three business days before our deadline.
If an established news magazine cannot
receive responses from Consumers, what is the fate of an average
customer?
Pratt encourages customers who face
troubles to contact her at (989) 755-4465, or toll-free at
1-800-322-4512. Almost anyone who is low-income will qualify,
along with many who may consider themselves as low-middle income.
"That's the purpose of having Legal
Services, to help represent people," she notes.
Pratt keeps score of foreclosures she
helps prevent, and she also keeps counts of billings that
Consumers Energy administrators wiped off the books because they agreed the charges were improper.
"Since the start of January, its
$29,488.02 says Pratt from memory, with no need to consult a
spread sheet.
If a customer reaches a deep impasse
with Consumers, Pratt says the final resort is to take a complaint
all the way to the Michigan Public Service Commission, which
regulates utilities. That number is 1-800-292-9555.
While Begin deferred to Gust, he
maintains that the utility strives to offer a helping hand.
"Shutoffs tend to mirror the Michigan economy," Begin says. "As the economy worsens, we tend to see shutoffs increase. However, shutoffs are our last resort, which is why we strongly encourage customers to contact us before they anticipate a problem arising so we can try and help them. Often that includes referring them to outside agencies that can assist." Bills Rise for Home-Heating Natural Gas Since the energy crunch of the 1970s, energy costs have come into far sharper focus.
Begin says Consumers Energy has
kept electrical costs below the rate of inflation, but that natural
gas costs have exceeded the Consumer Price Index, and gas comprises
about 80 percent of a typical bill.
A frustrating aspect, as Begin points
out, is that Consumers Energy does not profit from gas costs,
only from electrical service. This means that residents pay more but
Consumers doesn't earn more.
The National Energy Assistance
Directors Association reports that this winter's average
three-month bill for natural gas home heating will come to $900,
which is up 50 percent during the past five years from a
previous sum of $600.
"Just about everyone has trouble with
high heating bills, even people who don't qualify for
Department of Human Services
assistance, even people in homes that are well-insulated," Pratt
says.
Consumers Energy's Budget Plan,
adopted during the 1980s, allows customers to pay equal monthly
amounts. In other words, winter payments are less than normal but
summer payments are higher. Any differences between estimated costs
and actual costs are reconciled each June.
Advocates for the needy pushed for more
beyond the Budget Plan. Next came the Winter Protection Plan,
which prohibits shutoffs between the start of December and the start
of April except for extraordinary circumstances. A customer need pay
only 7 percent of the estimated annual bill in December,
January, February and March. However, higher payments to make up for
the shortfalls are required starting in April, or else shutoffs may
occur.
"The month of April is when we start
to have all of our troubles," an agency worker told Begin during a
recent forum. "Problems are put off during the winter, but the
amount owed continues to grow and by April there is no more
protection."
Begin readily agreed. He said
Consumers Energy recommends the Budget Plan, but adopted the
Winter Protection Plan only because the Michigan Public Service
Commission insisted.
"I call it 'The Deceiver Plan'. It was
mandated on us," Begin told the audience. "It really does protect
people during the winter, but come April it's a whole different
story."
Make Plans Before Accepting a Payment Plan Pratt urges customers to show caution before entering either the Budget Plan or the Winter Protection Plan.
Since a Budget Plan begins in July, she
says customers should make sure they are able to make the full
monthly payment. Otherwise, the household could face a shutoff
during the fall months before winter arrives.
She agrees that the Winter Protection
Plan offers stronger shutoff prevention during the coldest months,
but she agrees that the result is a rash of spring shutoffs in April
and May.
Making payments can prove difficult,
even when Consumers Energy and customers follow the procedures right
down to the letter.
However, Pratt says other monkey
wrenches can come into play.
First, she says some of Consumers'
lower-level clerks fail to put either the Budget Plan or the
Winter Protection Plan into the records, leading to a sudden shock and disaster for unfortunate customers.
Second, she asserts that a string of
bills based on usage estimates – rather than actual meter
reads, "can create overdue amounts that are higher than reality. A
problem occurs when a customer asks Consumers Power for a direct
reading of a meter, but either an employee doesn't show up or the
knock on the door is so faint that there is no way you will hear
it," Pratt says, citing her own personal experience.
Third, she says customers may face
unfair and undue 'tack on's. These scenarios take place when
Consumers assigns one person's overdue amount to another person who
has family or friendship ties.
"You may learn that when you were a
child, the mother or father put the bill in your name," Pratt says.
"You may have an unhappy former spouse or friend or landlord who
uses your Social Security number to establish an account at a
different address. The way Consumers views it you are responsible.
In some cases I can be highly productive in helping to wipe out
these wrongful charges, but in others it is like the client has to
prove that the person who did the 'tack on' wasn't even there, and
that can put a customer into a real bind."
Sources of Aid for Those in Need Households at or below the poverty level, such as about $20,000 for a family of four, may qualify for federal aid through LIHEAP, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
President Bush, in a surprise to
many observers, has approved program funds far more generously than
did President Clinton, reaching a peak of more than $3
billion in 2005. But amid the costly Iraq War, Bush is seeking
more domestic cuts and he wants to shrink the LIHEAP sum to below
$2
billion. Bush and Congress are
at an impasse as winter arrives.
Smaller amounts of aid may come through
PeopleCare operated through The Salvation Army in
cooperation with Consumers Energy. These funds are generated
through customers who are generous enough to make PeopleCare
contributions in addition to paying their own bills.
The Department of Human Services may
offer emergency aid on a hit-or-miss basis. Protections also are
available for a family that faces a medical emergency, or that has a
breadwinner called to military service.
However, funds are shrinking, the same
as for many other projects that combat poverty. The maximum a
Michigan family can receive this winter is $350 for home
heating and $350 for electricity, down from $550 last
year in each category.
Last year's average grant in Michigan
was $200, with 358,000 households served.
"We don't know where some families are
going to turn," says Cherrie Benchley, Saginaw United Way
president and chief executive.
Consumers Energy also encourages
families to seek tax breaks. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit is
not linked to energy costs, but low- or low-middle income families -
especially those with children - can receive refunds of up to
$4,700. Michigan, unlike some other cold weather states, also
offers a Home Heating Credit.
Families seeking free tax preparation
help after the holidays may contact the United Way at
755-0505 or the Saginaw County Community Action Committee
at 753-7741.
CAC Tries to Bridge the Gap At the Community Action Committee, known as CAC, staff members tell stories similar to those from Legal Aid's Deb Pratt.
Many clients have difficulty
communicating with the Consumers Energy office, say Rosetta Scott
and Sunshine Marlowe, assistants in CAC's Weatherization
Program.
"Consumers has a number of payment
plans, but some customers say they are only told about one or two of
them," Marlow says.
The Weatherization Assistance
Program builds into a five-pronged approach, explains Director
Omowale Art Smith.
First, CAC processes the families
through a 'central intake' so that other needs also are identified,
such as possible eligibility for surplus food or tax preparation
assistance.
Second, of course, the agency
weatherizes homes for low- and low-middle income families. (Maximum
incomes to qualify are $15,315 for a single adult, $20,525 for two
people, $25,755 for three, and then continue to add $5,220 for each
additional family member.)
Third, CAC conducts workshops that
offer
energy-saving tips and product demonstrations for residents.
Fourth, staff members attempt to help
clients deal with Consumers Energy and its various aid programs
Then comes the fifth prong, in cases
when a family faces an absolute dire emergency. Smith describes the
crisis of a family with six children in a two-story home.
"The fan on the basement furnace
quits, and there are no heat ducts to the children's bedrooms on the
second floor," Smith says, "Before we can weatherize the house, CAC
will try to leverage various resources to get the furnace fixed and
the ducts installed."
Marlow emphasizes the value of the
classes. CAC provides participants with incentives of a $50 payment
certificate from Consumers and an energy savings kit. The items in
their kits include caulk, stripping, a low-flow showerhead, a pair
of the
newfangled low-watt florescent light bulbs, and plastic window covers.
"We can't provide everything to do a
whole house, but we provide a start," Marlowe says. "We describe it
as our jump-off kit."
For a Consumers’ Spokesman, Less is More During community forums, Tom Begin presents himself as a rare sort of salesman.
He wants you to purchase his product,
but he will help you avoid buying too much of it.
In his role at Consumers Energy,
he explains how to cut natural gas and electric use so that payments
are more affordable.
"We can't show you how to bring a $300
monthly bill down to nothing, but we can help you shave $30, $40,
maybe even $50," Begin recently told members of the Quality of Life
Support Ministry at Saginaw's Zion Baptist Church.
This was one of many seminars he
conducts across mid-Michigan. A week earlier, he spoke to assistance
providers coordinated through the Saginaw United Way.
Some of the Zion group members stated
that even with energy conservation, rising costs still are pushing
bills beyond the means of low-income customers.
Begin's role is not to referee rate
debates that go to the Michigan Public Service Commission,
pitting citizen critics against Consumers Energy.
Instead, he preaches conservation to
any group that will have him.
"To save money on energy requires a
change in lifestyle," Begin says. "You pay for how comfortable you
want to be."
He tells participants, "Don't just look
at the cost amount on your bill and try to pay it. Look at the
details."
Indeed, small print on a bill shows 12 line items for electric use and three for gas to heat the home. Customers should aim to reduce electrical use via their KWH counts, or kilowatt-hours. For gas, the numbers are posted as CCF for cubic feet.
Advocates for the needy told Begin that
some customers have trouble with estimated billings. He answered
that any customer who desires a direct meter reading each month may
call toll-free at
1-800-477-5050, which is Consumers’ overall help line not just for meter readings but also for all sorts of program information and questions.
Also, advocates said some clients fail
to understand shutoff notices because they appear on the second page
of a bill mailing. Begin pledged in early November to look into this
question, but responses were not available for The Review.
Begin shows his audiences a list of
electrical costs to run appliances. These range from 38 cents per
hour for a 40-gallon water heater to about a penny per hour for a
television. A clothes washer is 3 cents an hour and a dryer is 15
cents per hour, while a coffee maker falls in between at 7 cents per
hour.
He also offers a booklet with more than
100 energy-saving tips. Some are standard, such as cutting the heat
at night while covered with extra blankets. Some are lesser known,
such as placing sheets of aluminum foil between steam radiators and
cold inner walls.
"When you consider all of the
appliances in your home, the nickels and dimes add up," Begin says.
The site for various cost-saving tips,
for both home heating and electrical use, is
consumersenergy.com/energy
answers.
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