Mar. 24--An additional $26.2 million in federal money will be available to help low-income residents of Wisconsin cope with record heating costs this winter.

The funding boost announced late Thursday brings Wisconsin's share of federal funding for low-income heating assistance to $99.8 million, a statement from Gov. Jim Doyle said.

The announcement from the federal Department of Health and Human Services came as utilities are urging customers who are behind on their bills to contact their utilities to make payment arrangements. The state's winter moratorium that prevents utilities from disconnecting customers ends on April 15.

The extra funding comes at a time when the state's utilities have forecast that the average customer's natural gas heating bill will be up about 20% from last year. While down from an earlier forecast of an increase of 40% to 50%, this winter will still end up as the most costly ever for heating customers.

The typical customer of We Energies, Wisconsin's largest utility, will pay about $136 or so more this winter, or about $930 during the six-month heating season. That's about 40% more than the typical household, using about 950 therms of natural gas, paid three winters ago.

Wendy Parks, a We Energies spokeswoman, said the utility is urging customers who are behind on their bills to contact the utility to make payment arrangements before the moratorium expires. The utility plans to begin disconnecting customers on April 17, she said.

The company expects to disconnect roughly 55,000 customers, which is about the same number that were shut off last year. "We're hoping it will be lower," Parks said. "We're hoping people really make an effort to give us a call to make payment arrangements."

At the state level, Doyle announced last fall that an extra $16 million would be available for heating assistance this winter. In addition, he recently signed into law a bill that would provide an additional $6 million for people whose incomes are slightly above the eligibility for federal aid.

That package, which passed the Legislature this month, will provide eligible families with $200 to $300 to help with their heating bills. The funding is available to families whose income is 175% of the federal poverty level, or $33,862 for a family of four.

For more information on energy assistance, go to: www.energyhelp.wi.gov or call (800) 522-3014.