Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. joined other concerned organizations Wednesday (3/1) at a Harrisburg news conference to urge continued funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

The news conference was hosted by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Ad-Hoc Coalition, a group of consumer and social service organizations, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission representatives, and several gas and electric utilities.

The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education recently voted to eliminate 1996 funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. The funding issue will be addressed again soon by the House as part of the regular appropriations process.

LIHEAP helps to pay energy bills for hundreds of thousands of low income families in Pennsylvania. More than 15,000 PP&L customers rely on LIHEAP each winter to help pay for energy.

"This program benefits the low income elderly, the working poor and the disabled," said Tim Dahl, PP&L's Consumer Affairs Coordinator. "This key federal program is supplemented by significant private sector efforts, such as PP&L's Operation Help."

Operation Help is an energy assistance program funded by contributions from PP&L shareowners, customers and employees. It's available to low-income eligible households, regardless of the home's heating source.

Federal funding for LIHEAP has decreased dramatically in recent years. Funding has gone from $2.1 billion in 1986 to $1.3 billion this year. The allocation for Pennsylvania also has fallen, dropping 33 percent from 1986 to 1995.