Additional LIHEAP Funds to Bring More Warmth to a Frigid Winter
By Kim Forrest
WASHINGTON–With local temperatures averaging below the freezing mark for most of this winter, the bitter cold is often tempered by the comfort of a heated home. However, for those who cannot afford heating, the chilly climate does not end when they enter their homes.
This week’s $150 million increase in funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) aims to change that.
New Hampshire will receive $631,895 of that emergency money. It will receive almost $3 million in emergency money, of about $200 million nationally, that was made available in January. In total, New Hampshire has received over $15.5 million in LIHEAP grants in fiscal year 2003 including standard LIHEAP funds and emergency grants. This brings the national total to $1.76 billion this year.
According to Celeste Lovett, New Hampshire state energy assistance director, Cheshire and Sullivan Counties combined received $330,000 from New Hampshire’s January $3 million emergency gain. She said she learned of this week’s release of funds from a press call but added that she has not heard about it officially or received any new money.
Rep. Charles Bass, R-2nd, has been a major supporter of increased LIHEAP money, writing numerous letters to congressional appropriators and the Bush administration on the subject. He said that he was “thrilled” about news of the added funds.
“Fuel prices haven’t ever been higher in modern times…. That, combined with an extremely bitter cold winter in the Northeast, I’ve never seen such cold temperatures so late,” Bass said. “Hopefully, [the added funds] will get us through…. I think that there is a clear understanding on the part of the administration that this issue requires immediate attention.”
According to the Web site of New Hampshire Governor’s Office of Energy and Community Services’, there has been a marked increase in the price of home heating in the past year. The cost is currently $1.798 per gallon, while a year ago it was $1.153.
Darlene Ayotte, energy services director of Southwestern Community Services said that 2, 718 Cheshire and Sullivan County residents have received heating assistance since Oct. 1. She said that there is no real trend among the applicants, though many have been recently unemployed.
“It’s everybody,” she said. “We’ve been seeing a lot of people who were recently laid off who have not applied for assistance before.”
To be eligible for fuel assistance, a family must meet certain requirements, including a maximum total household income for a family of four of $33,485.
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire.
