Photo Courtesy of Sen. Gillibrand
“The ongoing economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has strained global energy markets still struggling with a surge in demand, supply shortages, and supply chain issues. For low-income families, these price increases are unsustainable and could force them to choose between heating their homes and paying for essentials like rent, food, and medicine,” Sen. Gillibrand said.
BY Forum Staff
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined her colleagues in a bicameral letter urging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address the ongoing energy crisis and ensure families that rely the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) have the resources needed to stay safe throughout the winter.
The cost of home heating is expected to increase by 30 percent nationwide this winter for the nearly half of U.S. households that rely primarily on natural gas, a level not reached since 2014. In New York State alone, there are already more than 1.2 million households that collectively owe roughly $1.7 billion in late energy bill payments. LIHEAP is a critical home heating assistance program that is vital to New York’s most vulnerable seniors and families who depend on this money to offset the high cost of energy bills. However, the ongoing energy crisis means this lifeline program could lose much of its appropriated purchasing power due to volatile heating costs.
“The ongoing economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has strained global energy markets still struggling with a surge in demand, supply shortages, and supply chain issues. For low-income families, these price increases are unsustainable and could force them to choose between heating their homes and paying for essentials like rent, food, and medicine,” Gillibrand said.
The average cost of home heating is unaffordable for millions of low-income households, costing over $900 per year nationally. With prices surging worldwide for heating oil, natural gas, and other fuels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is projecting even higher prices for home heating this winter. The EIA’s Winter Fuels Outlook reports households nationwide could see their heating bills jump as much as 54 percent from last winter. The EIA also projects that Northeast customers who use natural gas will see their bills rise to $865, up from $731 last year. New Yorkers can spend more than $3,000 a year on energy bills alone — for low-income New Yorkers, that can amount to more than 10 percent of their income on energy. Robust and early LIHEAP funding is a crucial lifeline that will help meet the demand of rising utility costs and help financially strained households pay their energy bills and stay safe throughout the winter.
In the letter, Gillibrand and her fellow pols asked the following questions
“1. On November 18, 2021, the Biden administration unveiled recommendations on how American Rescue Plan funds should be used to protect households from rising home heating costs. Can you provide us with an update on your agency’s efforts to meet these recommendations and share your timeline for expediting assistance? 2. Last year, LIHEAP funding reached about 16 percent of the eligible population. This winter season, what percentage of the eligible population does your Department expect to serve with the additional $4.5 billion for LIHEAP and emergency rental assistance from the American Rescue Plan? 3. How has your Department made it easier for households to apply for LIHEAP assistance during this pandemic and ongoing energy crisis? 4. What steps has the Department taken to increase outreach to non-traditional households, especially those who have recently become unemployed and/or do not know that they qualify for LIHEAP? 5. Does the Department anticipate that current funding is sufficient to meet expected increases in energy prices or will additional resources be necessary?”
