Brief Description: Funding low-income home energy assistance.

Sponsors: By House Committee on Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives Green, Williams, Kessler, Kilmer, Chase, Blake, Morrell, Appleton, Moeller, Hasegawa, Murray, Linville, Conway, P. Sullivan, Springer, Takko, Lantz, Dickerson, Kenney, Fromhold, Kagi, McIntire, Ericksen, B. Sullivan, Simpson, Ericks, Sells, Upthegrove, Ormsby, McDermott and Schual-Berke; by request of Governor Gregoire).

House Committee on Appropriations

Background:

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) collects regulatory fees payable by all types of public service companies and deposits them into the Public Service Revolving Fund. Except for expenses payable out of the Pipeline Safety Account, all WUTC operational expenses are paid out of the Public Service Revolving Fund.

The WUTC filed a complaint against the Qwest Communications Company in August 2003 after a several year investigation. The complaint centered on the failure of Qwest to file with the WUTC the "interconnection agreements" between Qwest and 13 competitive local exchange carriers. The WUTC served its order on Qwest on February 28, 2005, which included a fine of $7,824,000. The fine was paid on April 14, 2005, and was deposited in the Public Service Revolving Fund.

The Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (DCTED) manages the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The LIHEAP program is a federally funded block grant that provides money to help low-income households make home heating payments to avoid utility service shut off during the winter.

Summary:

The sum of $7.6 million is appropriated from the Public Service Revolving Fund to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission for transfer to the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program during the 2005-07 biennium. The appropriation may not be used for the DCTED's administrative costs.

Votes on Final Passage:

House   97   0
Senate   48   0

Effective: January 12, 2006.