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Gas Aid for Elderly
By JERRY WARD, The Edmonton Sun
March 4, 2003
Low-income
seniors can now apply to the province for financial help to deal with
rising natural gas bills.
"We have implemented a special-needs program, on a temporary basis,
to now include rising utility costs for low-income seniors," Premier
Ralph Klein said yesterday.
Other Albertans, however, will have to turn down their thermostats and
pull on sweaters, like Klein said he is doing as a result of his wife,
Colleen, going on "a conservation kick" at their Calgary home.
"Colleen is complaining about (energy costs)," said Klein, who
noted the thermostat in his house is set at 16 C.
"You're compelled to put on a sweater."
He said Colleen hasn't demanded a rebate, unlike the 3,500 Albertans who
have signed an Opposition Liberal petition demanding immediate gas
refunds.
The province has a natural gas price protection law that kicks in when the
average annual price goes above $5.50 per gigajoule.
Playing off recent advice from Energy Minister Murray Smith that Albertans
should lower their thermostats and put on sweaters, the Grits donned
sweaters for yesterday's question period and launched a campaign to
collect sweaters for needy Albertans.
Changes to the special needs program will allow seniors already receiving
provincial assistance to collect lump-sum cash payments to cover their
utility bills.
The program will be based on income.
Seniors Minister Stan Woloshyn said he couldn't indicate how much money
will be available through the program.
The government said the assistance "is not a rebate, is not a new
program and is not universally applicable to all seniors in Alberta."
"Hopefully we'll be able to stay within our timeline of three weeks
between the receipt of application and cheques being mailed out,"
Woloshyn said.
"However, I expect a bit of a run on this, so there might be slight
delays."
Human Resources Minister Clint Dunford said the province will also, on a
case-by-case basis, look at helping low-income earners who receive
disconnection notices.
"We're not interested in anybody that's pissed off at the gas company
and not paying their bill. But if they need help we can certainly look at
it," Dunford said.
"We're a compassionate organization, as you know, so we're always
ready to look at things." Klein said he has spoken to Dunford and
Woloshyn to make sure no one falls through the cracks.
"I have said to the two ministers ... I don't want to see anyone
suffer because of rising utility costs," Klein said.
Meanwhile, ATCO Gas has come up with a plan to help customers cope with
the spike in natural gas prices.
Its new modified budget plan allows customers to smooth payments into
smaller equal amounts over the next six months, rather than requiring them
to swallow the full cost of high winter usage immediately each month.
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