WHAT'S HAPPENING |
FROM THE CHAIR
2008 |
By Greg Sawyers, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the National Fuel Funds Network and Director of Customer Service at Citizens Gas and Coke Utility, Indianapolis, IN.
I’d like use some of my space in this issue to thank everyone who participated in the sixth annual Washington Action Day for LIHEAP. Their work on Capitol Hill was vitally important to the efforts to gain more funding for the federal energy assistance program.
This year Action Day coincided with the Senate Finance Committee’s mark-up of the economic stimulus bill. Their visits to the offices of more than 200 members of Congress, where they voiced their support for the effort to have additional funding for LIHEAP included in the stimulus legislation, had a great impact.
To everyone who came to Washington and made this year’s Action Day the largest ever, I say thank you and job well done.
I would like to offer special thanks to some of the people and organizations that made Action Day the success that it was. First, I’d like to thank George Coling and the staff at the NFFN headquarters for the great job they did pulling this event together.
I would also like to especially thank the American Gas Association and the Edison Electric institute for their support of this event and all of our monetary sponsors Washington Gas, Pepco Holdings, Inc., ConEdison, Inc., CenterPoint Energy, CMS Energy, Entergy, National Grid, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, PPL AGL Resources, BGE, Duke Energy, Laclede Gas, Piedmont Natural Gas, Southwest Gas, Alliant Energy, Dominion, DTE Energy, National Fuel Gas, and PSEG.
But there is no time to rest, there is still more work to be done on LIHEAP. President Bush’s FY 2009 budget for LIHEAP cuts funding for the program by 22 percent. Over the next few months as we go through the appropriations process we will again be seeking your help. We must continue to demonstrate to the Congress how important adequate funding for LIHEAP is.
We will need you to furnish us with the real life stories of how energy assistance keeps people in their homes safe and warm during these trying times. We will need you to help us put a face on the problems many Americans are dealing with as they try to juggle home energy bills, grocery bills, and medical expenses.
We also need you develop contacts with your congressional delegations and be ready to respond to NFFN Action Alerts.
Now there are two big events on the horizon about which I am very excited. The first is the National Energy and Utility Affordability Conference, which combines the NFFN’s annual conference with the National Low Income Energy Consortium conference.
By combining the conferences, the organizations will give conference attendees increased opportunities to exchange information and learn best practices. The new conference will be more compact and more affordable.
The conference will be held June 16 – 18 in Denver and I hope to see all of you there.
Equally exciting is the ground breaking initial session of the Victorine Q. Adams Institute, a two day series of workshops, panel discussions and featured speakers on fundraising innovations, practices, and strategies to be held in Baltimore on September 16 and 17.
The Adams Institute, conceived by fuel fund visionary, the late Victorine Q. Adams, and funded by the William L. and Victorine Q. Adams Foundation, Baltimore Gas and Electric -- a Constellation energy Company, and individual donors, will provide NFFN members with the tools and strategies to help them increase their fundraising.
Important New Study Released
October 22, 2007
Children living in homes that do not receive LIHEAP grants are 23 percent more likely to be “growing poorly” and 32 percent more likely to be hospitalized following an emergency room visit, according to a new report released by the Children’s Sentinel Assessment Program (C-SNAP).
Dr. Deborah Frank, one of the principal investigators of the report, said problems affect children of all ages but “babies and toddlers are at the greatest risk.” According to Dr. Frank, babies and toddlers who live in energy insecure homes are most likely to suffer poor health, require hospitalization, manifest developmental problems and lack adequate food.
The results of the report were released at a Dorchester, MA news conference today attended by Joseph P. Kennedy, chairman of Citizens Gas, and members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation. The funding for the report was provided for Citizens Gas with additional funding for the publishing and promotion of the report provided by the National Fuel Funds Network.
Fuel for Our Future
Impacts of Energy Insecurity on Children's Health, Nutrition and Learning
Press Release, October 22, 2007
An opinion article titled,
“The Heat or Eat Dilemma”
co-authored by Dr. Frank and Joseph Kennedy
and published in the Boston Globe
UPCOMING EVENTS you don't want to miss!!!
more Upcoming Events
2008 National Energy and Utility Affordability Conference New!!! |