As economy dims, utility shut-offs are soaring

"I had food to reheat in the microwave and I have a toaster oven," she said, "so I used the toaster oven for some chicken breast to make sure they were able to eat."

A $600 grant from a nonprofit organization helped her regain gas service last Tuesday.

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.

In rare cases, shut-offs can lead to tragedy.

In Toledo, Ohio, last November, three children and their mother died in a fire started by a candle after their power was turned off. In New York last summer, a Long Island teenager was killed and members of his family were sickened by carbon monoxide from a gasoline-powered generator fired up after a shut-off. And in Michigan last December, a social worker found a 90-year-old woman and her 63-year-old daughter wrapped in coats and blankets on the floor of their Kalamazoo-area home four days after their electricity was shut off. The older woman later died after suffering what a relative called exposure, frostbite and pneumonia.

Obama administration faults Senate bank bill The Obama administration on Friday pushed back against a proposal in the U.S. Senate to create a single bank super-regulator and strip the Federal Reserve of its supervisory powers. Warren Buffett: Financial panic is over Pay czar concerned firms could lose talent U.S. banks to prepay $45 billion to FDIC Geithner encouraged by policies in Asia

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. But advocates say the $5.1 billion is unlikely to be enough.

New York is spending an extra $49 million on household energy efficiency programs. Connecticut approved $44 million to help with heating costs and weatherization. Officials in Maine want to distribute 2,000 to 3,000 "warm kits" that will include caulk, low-flow shower heads and high-efficiency light bulbs. Alaskans in their annual oil-royalty checks from the state this year are seeing an additional $1,200 to help offset high fuel prices.

Utilities and private groups are also chipping in, helping customers make payments and winterize their homes. In hard-hit Detroit, DTE Energy matches money spent by a local group called The Heat and Warmth Fund and meets with customers at churches to work out payment arrangements.

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