Pres. Barack Obama and his family at Christmas Tree lighting; as a result of his cuts to LIHEAP, many families across the U.S. will have neither lights nor heat this winter.

With the prospect of further cuts in home heating assistance, predictions of a cold, snowy winter could equal a double dose of bad news for low-income West Michigan residents.

Federal funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program were cut from $5 billion to $4.5 billion for the fiscal year that ended in September.

Advocates believe Congress will approve $3.5 billion for fiscal 2012.

“We are looking at a situation where the funds are more limited than they have been in a long time,” said David Schroeder, coordinator of the Kent County Essential Needs Task Force.

“There are an awful lot of people struggling to make mortgage payments and to keep food on their table and also to make heat and utility payments.”

Schroeder said the area’s network of charities, churches and social service agencies are working to ensure low-income residents make it through winter with heat and shelter.

But he said he was “not entirely confident” no one would have their heat turned off.

At Heart of West Michigan United Way, officials are bracing for hundreds of requests for help with heat or electric bills.

FRIGID TEMPS PROMPT CITY OF DETROIT TO OPEN DAYTIME RESPITE CENTERS FOR RESIDENTS AND EXTEND WARMING CENTER HOURS FOR HOMELESS .

“The number of folks seeking assistance has always exceeded the resources available to provide assistance,” said Robert McKown, director of community engagement for the agency.

With unemployment seemingly stuck above 10 percent and rising poverty in Kent County, McKown said it is no surprise area charities are reporting “a great deal of need.”

For the last three months of 2010, the agency received 1,083 calls for assistance with gas bills and 1,225 calls for assistance with electric bills. If anything, it expects more this winter. For July through September this year, it received 1,314 requests for electric assistance and 866 for gas.

The state’s Department of Human Services, which helps administer the federal assistance program through the Home Heating Credit, could see its federal heating assistance funds reduced by one-third to one-half.

Last year, the state received $276.5 million in federal funds for home energy assistance.

Households with incomes below 110 percent of the federal poverty level, or $24,255 for a family of four, are eligible for the heating credits. They receive an average benefit of $388 per household.

Adding to the concern, a state appeals court in July struck down the financing system used by Michigan’s Low Income and Energy Efficiency Fund and the state Legislature has not enacted a replacement.

Money for the state program, which has been operating since 2002, was built into the rate base used by Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy Co., Michigan’s two largest utilities. But the appeals court ruled that lawmakers failed to authorize the fee when they rewrote state energy laws several years ago.

In addition, the state is poised to remove some 11,000 families from the welfare cash assistance rolls. Those cuts, which were to take effect Oct. 1, were temporarily halted by a court decision that found the state did not inform notified recipients of their right to a hearing.

In Kent County, 287 cases are slated for termination, including 767 children. The cuts are aimed at families and individuals who have received cash assistance for four years.

“We are doing what we can to take advantage of whatever resources we can,” said Schroeder of the Kent County Essential Needs Task Force.

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