COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCIES - ICPA ASK FOR ENERGY ASSISTANCE OVERHAUL NOW

[Cromwell, CT] CAFCA, the Connecticut Association for Community Action [www.cafca.org/] and ICPA, the Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association [www.icpa.org] today joined to bring to Connecticut state government the unresolved issues and problems that exist with the 2007/08 Connecticut Energy Assistance Plan [CEAP], which begins Thursday, November 1, 2007.

CAFCA represents 12 community action agencies working in all our state’s 169 cities and towns administering and delivering social services programs for the neediest of our citizens.  ICPA represents 530 local, retail petroleum marketers in Connecticut who work with CAFCA’s agencies to deliver heating oil and kerosene to consumers.

The CEAP is a critical program for more than 80,000 needy CT families who depend on these resources for providing electricity, natural gas, propane, kerosene and heating oil for their homes this winter.  Since 2002, Connecticut has chosen to rely entirely on federal funding and we begin this heating season with $20 million less in federal funds than last year.  DSS has submitted a plan for the 2007-08 season based on an estimated $40 million this coming year for energy assistance.  While we can always be hopeful, Congress does not appear to be headed in the direction of any additional funding over last year. 

Both CAFCA and the ICPA are disappointed that the state has not taken this reduction in funds more seriously.  Another disappointment has been the state’s decision not to continue the practice of what worked well last year - the early intake and certification process.  Just a few months ago CT was sitting on a $1 billion dollars in surplus funds which could have helped the CAAs and the energy vendors assist CT’s citizens to better prepare for the coming winter by allocating some of this surplus for low income energy assistance.

CAFCA and ICPA sit on the Low Income Energy Assistance Advisory Board, created by law and made up of all stakeholders in the process of developing each year’s CEAP plan – though this year both DSS and OPM bypassed this board and went straight to the Legislature with a poorly constructed, ill-defined in some cases and undefined in others, discriminatory proposal for this program year.  CAFCA and ICPA believe that this plan needs to be withdrawn by the state, sent back to the LIEAB for new, substantial revisions and also believes strongly in the State of Connecticut preparing to invest state funds in this year’s program.

The statutory deadline for producing a state plan is August 1^st, and this year’s plan came out 7 weeks late, September 20^th.  

  Connecticut Energy Assistance Program [CEAP] 2007/08

What CAFCA and ICPA are requesting from the state:

• CAFCA and ICPA believe that this plan needs serious revisions and should be sent back to the LIEAB for new, substantial revisions.  We further believe strongly that the State of Connecticut must prepare to invest state funds in this year’s program.

• Only on the eve of the beginning of the 2007/08 program, did the community action agencies receive their contracts from the state and specific guidelines as to how the program will be operated.  Thus far the CAA’s have not received any funding from the state with which to pay for fuel deliveries. This is unacceptable and needs to be changed immediately since agencies should not have to take lines of credit to operate state programs, especially as Connecticut has received some energy funds from the federal government for the purpose of energy assistance payments.

• CAFCA and ICPA call on Connecticut’s Congressional delegation to seek quick Congressional approval of an FY08 federal appropriation for Low Income Energy Assistance of $5.1 billion, up from $2.1 billion last year, and fully in accord with the authorized level of $5.1 billion in the federal 2005 Energy Policy Act. Congress appropriates additional tens of billions for Iraq , and not an additional dime for the neediest among us.  We must advocate for priorities that make sense for our citizens.

• CAFCA and ICPA ask that the DSS/OPM end the practice of constructing a program that treats energy vendors differently. Today, propane vendors, electric utilities and natural gas utilities all are paid their full ticketed cost of energy while heating oil and kerosene dealers are required to participate with a fixed margin over their wholesale cost or a discount off their retail price.

• CAFCA and ICPA believe that the CEAP program should be operated year-round, allowing community action agencies to process applications in a timely fashion well before the heating season and to allow consumers to take advantage of programs offered by fuel vendors in the marketplace in the spring and summer, but gone when we start now, late in the fall.  We must have a better system so that low income citizens are not continuingly victimized by fuel prices spiraling out of sight when winter approaches.

·        CAFCA and ICPA need resolution for vendor problems. For example, kerosene is not being delivered on the shoreline unless the vendors are paid their asking price. Other vendors are not taking new customers.  It is time that DSS and OPM acknowledge that this program is in serious trouble and work with us NOW to fix all these issues before the onset of winter.

cafca AND tHE cOMMUNITY aCTION aGENCIES and icpa AND THE Heating Oil Retailers Are Ready to Serve Connecticut ’s Low Income Families – Now We Need A PROGRAM that helps us serve Vulnerable families and oNE That is Fair To ALL!

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ICPA represents more than 500 Connecticut based independent businesses. These businesses employ 13,000 Connecticut citizens and supply the majority of our state's 1,600 motor fuels outlets and 350 heating fuels dealers. ICPA's offices are at 10 Alcap Ridge, Cromwell, CT  06416.  For more information about today's Press Release, contact Gene Guilford or Chris Herb.