HEFTY BILL LEAVES MOM IN DARK; ASSISTANCE PRGRAMS MAY RESTORE POWER

SCOTT CITY -- Kim St. John was alternately distraught and furious Tuesday. Joel, her 7-month-old baby, is a newly diagnosed asthmatic who twice a day must inhale medicines through a respirator. And Union Electric had just shut off her utilities.

St. John didn't know that, because of Joel's illness, she may have been able to qualify for a Life Support Account with UE, which would have prevented the company from taking that action at least temporarily.

Tuesday afternoon, friends were bundling Joel and St. John's 4-year-old daughter Mickell off to their house. St. John, a 23-year-old single mother, remained behind to ponder how she ever will get out of this jam.

"There's no way I can pay it," she said. "I just don't have the money."

"It" is $872.73 owed UE. The bill has been mounting since last June, when St. John and her husband separated.

St. John's only income is $292 a month from Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

The new bill was a disconnect notice. UE demanded $508.01 of the amount she owes to keep the power on.

St. John acquired a $292 energy assistance grant from the Scott County Division of Family Services. That was contingent on her receiving the rest of the owed amount from the Delta Area Economic Opportunities Commission in Sikeston.

DEAOC's helps out when impoverished people are threatened with emergency situations such as a utility cut-off.

But St. John, who has no phone, has not connected with DEAOC for various reasons she said she doesn't have enough money for gas or to pay for a long-distance phone call.

St. John said she did not make UE aware of her son's medical condition because she didn't realize it would make a difference to the company.

She called UE Tuesday to complain about the cut-off, and told the representative about her son. "They said, `There's nothing we can do about it,'" she recounted.

Bob Robins, office and sale supervisor for UE, said the company doesn't actively solicit customers for Life Support Accounts. They must apply.

"We probably could turn (the utilities) back on if she does," Robins said.

The account automatically is considered "Life Support" during the application process, which requires a doctor's note and approval by a St. Louis clinic.

A Life Support customer is allowed to skip at least one cut-off notice.

Because the Missouri Energy Commission's Cold Weather Rule has kicked in since St. John's bill was issued, she now is required to pay only 25 percent of the total charges.

Robins said the Family Services grant alone would be sufficient to restore St. John's power. "If they will pay it we will reconnect," he said.

Roxann McRoy, income maintenance supervisor with the Division of Family Services in Sikeston, said someone in St. John's situation can get help in her office.

"She needs someone to help her," McRoy said. "If this child is in need of utilities...(the situation) could get pretty hairy."

McRoy, who is in charge of the office's Energy Assistance Program, said St. John's indebtedness to the utility company appears almost insurmountable.

"I don't see any way out for her, not in the situation she's in now," said McRoy, who suggested St. John probably needs to find a completely different living arrangement.

"If she's got two small kids, she doesn't need all this stress," McRoy said.