Energy relief pushed

• By MARK BALLARD
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Aug 12, 2008 - Page: 8A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Hoping to provide relief from soaring electric bills, state utility regulators are expected today to approve an unprecedented order while the governor searches for state money to help out consumers.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission is expected to order utility companies to allow some customers to defer paying part of their monthly bills.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said he is looking for state dollars that can be used quickly to fund programs that help take the sting out of those bills.

“Too many of our families are being hit by the high costs of utility bills,” Jindal said Monday.

“The state can and should be doing more to help our families, especially when these bills are setting records,” he said.

The five-member PSC is expected to declare an “energy emergency,” which will set in motion the Louisiana Emergency Relief Act of 2001. Never before used, the Relief Act allows the PSC to order utility companies to suspend monthly bills during the time of the emergency for “persons with low incomes who are 65 or older” or customers who receive public assistance.

Customers eventually would have to repay the deferred amount, probably during a time when monthly bills are expected to be less, such as November and December, when Louisiana turns off its air conditioners.

PSC Commissioner Foster Campbell of Bossier Parish and Jindal met Monday to discuss the situation.

Campbell said he asked Jindal for $20 million in state money to help fund two other relief programs.

One, called Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program or LAHEAP, is a federally funded program that gives money to pay utility bills for low-income people who qualify for help.

The second program, called the Home Energy Rebate Option or HERO, makes cash payments of up to $2,000 to homeowners, regardless of their economic status, who improve their residences by making the structures more energy efficient.

Jindal said he tentatively identified about $10 million in the state Department of Natural Resources’ existing budget that could be shifted immediately to the HERO program.

The U.S. Senate is considering legislation to increase the amount of federal money for the program that funds LAHEAP.