Winter is right around the corner and in our tough economy, more and more people are worried rising energy costs will leave them out in the cold. Here's the story of one Rockford family's struggles to get help paying their heating bills.

"It's cold, very cold," says Penny Ross, sticking her hand in the shower.

Cold showers, microwave dinners and plug-in radiators - that's how the Ross family has been getting by.
"My daughter came home and was going to fix a pizza and found that the gas had been turned off," says Penny Ross.

That was back in August, when the family was already living in the dark. Their electricity was turned off in March and they couldn't pay the bill to get reconnected until last month.
"My husband lost his job and we just got behind," says Ross, holding up her $1,000 Nicor bill.

For help catching up, Ross says she turned to LIHEAP, the state and federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Ross says representatives told her to call back October 1st, the first day applications were accepted for families with disconnected energy service.
"So I called on that date and they said well we're out of funds, completely, we don't have even emergency funds and I thought how can that be?" says Ross.

In a recent interview, a LIHEAP representative tells us it's not funds that have run out, but appointments, to determine what kind of aid people can receive.
"It may be a delay in getting the appointment, but they will be served," says Gwynda Dunklin, of the Rockford Human Services Department Energy Division.

Dunklin says anyone who is income-eligible for the program will get help paying their energy bills, though they have to pay a fee if service has been disconnected.

The Rosses say one more fee may be more than they can take.
"Do we put gas in the truck, or do we pay the electric bill, or do we pay this? By the time we pay bills and stuff we're lucky if we have $10 to spend on food, it's really bad," says Penny Ross.

If you need help paying your energy bills, call 815-987-5501 to find out when you can get an appointment. LIHEAP opens to the general public November 3rd.