By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Charities, utilities and government agencies across the Tristate and the nation are reporting a surge in the number of people applying for heating aid, even as the Bush administration proposes a $300 million cut in the nation's biggest emergency home heating program.

SELF, Butler County's community action agency, takes daily appointments for emergency heating aid. Lately, a line of 30 to 50 people is waiting for walk-in appointments when the Hamilton office opens at 8:30 a.m.

"We're seeing a much greater demand for our services this year,'' said Jeff Diver, executive director of SELF, which stands for Supports to Encourage Low-Income Families.

SELF isn't alone. Similar agencies in Hamilton County and Northern Kentucky also are seeing more people who need help keeping their homes warm.

Examples of the increased demand across the nation include:

Albany County, N.Y., where applications for heating assistance grants are up 60 percent.

Pittsburgh, where layoffs at US Airways have hammered the economy, the Salvation Army has already spent 70 percent of its annual $10,000 home heating assistance budget.

Michigan, where the Heat and Warmth Fund has shelled out $345,500 in heating grants in November and December - nearly twice the total for the same period last year. Officials aren't sure if they'll have enough money for the rest of the winter.

The White House has requested $1.4 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), compared with $1.7 billion last year. Congress hasn't decided whether to adopt the cut, but critics said the proposal comes at the worst possible time.

Cutting the money could affect more than 500,000 people who rely on aid to pay utility bills, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, which represents state officials who administer LIHEAP grants.

Mr. Diver said his agency is on a pace to serve 3,000 families with emergency heating assistance this winter ahead of last winter's record of 2,700 families.

The Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency has seen more than 400 additional applications for emergency help in paying heating bills through the first month of taking applications than during the same period last year.

"We've seen very heavy demand since we started taking applications on Nov. 4,'' said Donna Marsh, spokeswoman for the agency.

Through Dec. 4, the agency had dispersed $485,867 through the energy assistance program compared with $451,420 in the same period last year, she said.

The Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission has seen a 30 percent increase in applications through the first month it has taken emergency applications compared with a year ago.

Through the first week of December, the commission, which serves eight Northern Kentucky counties, has taken 3,989 applications compared with 2,306 in the same period last year, said Darla Griffins, community service director for the agency.

A key reason for the additional applications is that this November was significantly colder than a year ago, driving up natural gas consumption by 44 percent, Cinergy Corp. officials said.

Still, the utility said disconnections for nonpayment last month totaled 4,144, compared with 4,058 in November 2001.

Based on the 18 percent cut in funding proposed by the Bush administration, the energy assistance directors association estimates that 63,000 fewer families would be served in Kentucky next year.

Ohio officials plan on serving the same number of families but reduce the average benefit from $170 to $140 per household if the cuts take effect.

Vicky Mroczek, chief of community services for the Ohio Department of Development, which administers the low-income heating assistance program in the state, said it's still too early to say what the demand for emergency heating assistance will be for the rest of the winter.

In the past, she said, Congress has provided additional funds for the program when the need arose. The most recent instance was two years ago when record early December cold and skyrocketing gas prices spurred heavy demand for emergency aid.

In Ohio, Gov. Bob Taft created Project Thaw to funnel the additional funding to those in need, she said.

The federal Administration for Children and Families said last year's LIHEAP program had a surplus of nearly $300 million, in part because of a warmer-than-normal winter, and that some of that money could be tapped if funds run short this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.