This might sound a little crazy at first, but you have considered offering a payment plan to folks who are having money problems due to heating costs? You could take 50% of what you usually charge and average the other 50% into future bills. (It could get a little complicated, but maybe you could stem the tide of lost clients this way. Would probably increase customer loyalty, too.) Then again, maybe you can't afford to only collect 50% right now...just throwing it out there.