Energy, Environmental & Economy Programs

“Smart Energy” in Changing Energy Markets

Program description is being updated.

Air Quality and Climate Change

Program description is being updated.

LIHEAP: Addressing Critical Economic Needs

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) plays a major role in helping make home energy more affordable for the nation’s most vulnerable households – those with the lowest income and highest energy burden, particularly households whose members include the elderly, disabled, or young children. A unique federal assistance program, LIHEAP leverages private fuel assistance programs, promotes planning and responsibility through the use of innovative initiatives, and encourages state administrative strategies that reduce program operating costs.

In the Northeast, LIHEAP is an important component in the region’s approach to meeting the heating needs of its citizens. Funds are targeted to the most vulnerable – families with annual incomes below the federal poverty level, and the elderly and disabled. For many of these households, particularly those on fixed incomes, their annual income is not sufficient to pay high winter heating bills, even in periods of economic growth. In recent years, the combined impact of rising home energy prices and diminished purchasing power of the LIHEAP dollar has hit the Northeast low-income households hard, particularly those dependent upon delivered fuels.

The CONEG states take steps to stretch scarce LIHEAP funding, such as leveraging private sector funds and increasing the purchasing power of the limited federal funds. These methods include: requiring margin-over-rack and oil-bid programs to provide the lowest possible prices for heating oil; initiating partnerships with utilities to provide discounts and avoid shut-offs; and exploring options to purchase natural gas through cooperative agreements with local governments.

• Policies

• Correspondence/Testimony