The utility companies are very good at not shutting people off during the winter, but we're seeing that people are going to be facing huge debt at the end of the winter.

People are going to have huge utility debts. And they're going to end up, a lot of them, shut off in the spring and summer and they're going to carry that debt into next winter.

We are seeing a lot of people who are cutting back on other necessities - food, medication - to meet their utility bills.

Because the bills are so high, people who wouldn't normally ask for help are throwing up their hands and saying we really do need the help and we're asking for it.

Many of the elderly will pay their utility bills and go without medication without food.

Adding close to $200 per benefit will be a tremendous help. However, heating bills are (in my opinion) running in the $100 to $200 per month or more range for LEAP recipients. Over the winter months, this will amount to $600 to $1,200. So there's still a gap. But the governor's proposal, if it passes, will help significantly.