LITTLE ROCK — As temperatures climbed to triple digits Monday, hundreds of people braved the heat as they waited in line outside at the State Fairgrounds to try to get some help to pay this month’s electric bills.
The Central Arkansas Development Council started accepting applications for its summer Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program at the Arts and Crafts Building on the fairgrounds.
The program is federally funded and that helps lowincome people struggling to pay high electric bills. The number of people qualifying for assistance has increased since January, said Larry Cogburn, executive director of the council.
Cogburn said more people are seeking and qualifying for help to pay their energy bills because of the economy.
“When you have a limited amount of money, there are basic things you have to take care of first,” he said.
The program will pay for electricity from all utilities in the service area, said Cogburn. Last year, the council helped about 12,000 people pay their electric bills.
And for a person to qualify for assistance, a household’s income must not exceed 60 percent of the state’s median household income, he said. The median household income in Arkansas was $37,888 in 2009, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau website.
When the council sent out applications to people on food stamp rolls before the program started, they noticed that more people were qualifying for assistance than before, he said.
Cogburn said 2,500 more applications were sent out this summer than for the winter program in January.
“We saw a significant increase from last year to this year in the number of people that qualified,” Cogburn said.
He did not know how many people the council helped Monday but estimated that at least 800 people were served.
This year the state has received about $36.4 million from the federal government for such programs around Arkansas, said Amy Webb, a spokesman for the Department of Human Services. She said this number could grow.
Cogburn said the council has received about $2 million from the state to fund its summer program, which includes Pulaski, Clark, Saline, Ouachita, Union, Columbia, Calhoun, Dallas, Hot Springs, Lonoke, Montgomery and Pike counties.
He said the council expects to exceed this amount when helping people pay their electricity bills.
“We anticipate asking for more [money] from the state,” he said.
He didn’t know how long the $2 million would last before the council has to ask the state for more money. He also wasn’t sure how many people would be served.
Cogburn said the council received $2 million last year and had to shut down near the end of August because the council’s program ran out of money.
This year’s program will last until Sept. 30 or until the council runs out of money, he said.
Theresa Wright, 38, of Little Rock attended the program on Monday and said this is the first time she has had to have assistance to pay her electricity bill.
She said she lost her job at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences last November and has had difficulty finding another one.
She said she receives only $160 a week from unemployment to support herself and her two daughters.
“I have a shutdown notice [for electricity] and have only unemployment coming in,” Wright said. “If they can just pay a portion of it, it will help me out a lot,” Wright said.
Cogburn said people who were not sent an application can go to the council’s mass intake days held in Pulaski, Saline, Clark, Ouachita, Union and Columbia counties. Or they can contact the council and make an appointment. More information on the program and mass intake days can be found at the council’s website at cadc.com.
Arkansas, Pages 7 on 07/12/2011