Power shut-offs increase as economy cools

COHOES, N.Y. — The number of Americans whose electricity or gas has been shut off for nonpayment of their bills is up sharply in many parts of the country as people struggle to cope with higher prices and a shaky economy.

Shut-offs have been running 17 percent higher than last year among customers of New York state's major utilities, and 22 percent higher in economically hard-hit Michigan.

They are up in all or part of dozens of other states, including Pennsylvania, Florida and California, according to an Associated Press check of regulators and energy companies.

Despite stepped-up efforts by state and federal governments, utilities and private groups to help people avoid shut-offs this winter, some worry the problem will only get worse in the coming months, particularly with the downturn on Wall Street.

"I just didn't have the money to pay," said Marie Williams, a single mother raising four daughters in Cohoes, N.Y., a former mill city on the Hudson River. "Rent had to be paid, and food for the girls."

Williams' power was cut off recently for about a week, forcing her girls to do homework by candlelight. She became one of more than 230,000 residential customers of New York's 10 major utilities whose service were shut off for nonpayment through August of this year.

At the same time, people who rely on heating oil instead of gas or electricity to warm their homes are pleading for relief from high fuel prices.

Southern California Edison, with 4.5 million residential electric customers, reported residential terminations were up 10 percent through August of this year to 228,000; Westar Energy of Topeka, Kan., said it saw a 19.5 percent increase in residential shut-offs over the same period. Tampa (Fla.) Electric reported a 19 percent climb in disconnect orders through June for residential and commercial customers.

Michigan regulators reported a 7 percent increase in residential natural-gas shut-offs through June and a 39 percent rise in residential electricity terminations.

Shut-offs often are brief and the numbers can include customers whose service was shut off more than once.

"Because of high gasoline prices, many families at the lower incomes have really been squeezed," said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association. "It's like triage: You pay the most important things, and the last thing you pay is your utility bill."

Utilities, by policy and regulation, cut the power only as a last resort, and generally only after customers have run up hundreds of dollars in past-due bills. Many utilities instead offer extensions and payment arrangements.

Laws across the country protect the elderly and the ailing, and many states have cold-weather rules that make it hard or impossible to shut off service in winter.

Congress recently approved a measure to nearly double the federal money available to help poor people cope with home-heating costs, whether they use oil, gas or electricity.

Utilities and private groups are also chipping in.