Alex Branch | The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

DALLAS — Rising temperatures and the economic downturn have led to renewed calls for the state to release more funds originally intended to help low-income people pay their electric bills.

A small group of residents gathered Thursday at the Dallas County Health and Human Services building to protest the use of the System Benefit Fund for purposes other than helping families.

The fund was created as part of the 1999 electric deregulation law to help low-income customers lower bills, weatherize homes and learn about the competitive electric market.

However, the Legislature has allocated only 25 to 30 percent of the fund to help low-income families through LITE Up Texas, the summertime discount program, officials say. The rest has been used to balance the budget.

Allison Brim, a member of the North Texas branch of the Texas Organizing Project, a community group that arranged Thursday’s event in Dallas, said the money would help low-income families make their homes energy efficient.

“People are struggling to pay their electric bills,” Brim said. “We’re calling on state lawmakers to start putting this money toward its much-needed purpose.”

Thursday’s gathering was small, but officials with other organizations that help people on low or fixed incomes agreed that clients need more help paying electric bills in the summer.

Tim Morstad, associate state director for AARP Texas, called the redirection of money “a shell game” that legislators should correct.

“There are many households that struggle to keep the lights on and stay safe and cool,” he said. “The programs that are funded by the System Benefit Fund can literally be lifesavers for Texans.”

Texas ratepayers each contribute 98 cents every month to the state-managed fund via deduction from their electric bills. At the end of June, the fund had reached $610 million, according to the Public Utility Commission.

State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, agreed that state leadership is not using the fund as intended.

“Those leaders have taken the system benefit funds that each of us are paying to help low-income persons weather the cost of electricity in high-cost summer months and they’ve been socking those monies away into a deposit account,” she said in e-mailed statement.

The need for assistance is strong in Tarrant County, particularly as more people struggle to find work, officials said.

Sara Ramirez, vice president of development for Catholic Charities Diocese of Fort Worth, said paying electric bills is a chronic source of stress for clients.

“They get their electric bills and they can’t afford to pay them, so they use money they spend on food,” Ramirez said. “It’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Catholic Charities receives $600,000 a year through a TXU Energy emergency aid program to distribute to families struggling with electric bills, she said. But the need has grown in the economic downturn.

Staff writer Aman Batheja contributed to this report.

Alex Branch, 817-390-7689

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