This won't give the poor any incentive to insulate, buy a more efficient furnace, get new windows, caulk, turn off lights, replace bulbs with fluorescents..... just have the gummint pay the bills and you can leave the lights on.
In fact, when biblewonk sent me the link to this article, he mentioned how any number of the many handout recipients in his 'hood are always leaving their doors hanging wide open, even in the cold of winter. Why should they give a damn?
Meanwhile, I remind my kids not to take so long to survey the refrigerator contents.
and leave the windows open in the middle of winter. You should see the 'hood up close and personal. I'm right down the street. A great many of the fires here are from overworked furnaces. We even get a box to check on the utility bill if we care to donate to the community heating fund.