Natural Gas Utilities Announce Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Extension

PITTSBURGH, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwestern Pennsylvania's three natural gas companies, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, Equitable Gas Company, and Peoples Natural Gas today applaud Gov. Ed Rendell for extending the application period for enrollment in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), including Crisis, in Pennsylvania.  The application period, originally scheduled to end April 2, will now close April 16, 2010.

LIHEAP is a federally funded program that provides a one-time cash grant applied directly to a customer's home heating bill.  In addition, the Crisis program provides grants to prevent a shut off or address a heating emergency such as a furnace failure.  The program started Nov. 2, 2009, and the region's three natural gas companies encourage customers who have not already applied and need financial assistance paying a winter heating bill to apply through their natural gas utility, through a social service agency, at their county assistance office, or online.

So far during the 2009-2010 winter heating season, it is estimated that LIHEAP grants have assisted more than 382,000 Pennsylvania families through cash grants and more than 111,000 households with crisis grants.

Although LIHEAP is administered through Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare, it is not a public assistance program.  Customers can access an application through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Access to Social Service Web site (COMPASS) at www.compass.state.pa.us.

Customers can also contact their natural gas company for details about LIHEAP and other assistance programs by calling one of the following numbers:

To apply, the utility customer must present the following:

1. Names of people in the household
2. Dates of birth for people in the household
3. Social Security numbers for all household members
4. Proof of income for all members of the household
5. A copy of a recent heating bill.

Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, with headquarters in Canonsburg, PA, is one of nine energy distribution companies of NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI). Columbia Gas serves approximately 413,000 customers in 26 counties. More information about Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania is available at www.ColumbiaGasPA.com.

Equitable Gas Company is a provider of safe and dependable natural gas service to approximately 275,000 customers located mainly in the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.  Its customer base also includes nine other counties in western Pennsylvania, 14 counties in West Virginia, and nine counties in Kentucky.  Additional information about Equitable Gas can be obtained through its Web site at www.equitablegas.com.

Peoples Natural Gas Company LLC serves 359,000 customers in sixteen counties in southwestern Pennsylvania and is a subsidiary of SteelRiver Infrastructure Partners.  Additional information about Peoples Gas can be found on its website: www.peoples-gas.com

SOURCE Equitable Gas Company, LLC