Homeowners: Where can you seek financial assistance to help pay your energy bills?
Where can financially distressed homeowners find financial assistance to offset the expenses of their heating bills?
A 10-20% increase in energy bills is expected during the 2006-07 winter season, according to the EIA (Energy Information Administration), which provides the official energy statistics from the U.S. Government. A program called LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) was created to help low-income and elderly families with their heating bills.
Families that fall into these categories are sometimes forced to make choices that affect their basic needs in order to pay for heat, like forgoing needed prescriptions or being able to pay for clothes and healthy food. Sometimes the need to heat their houses leads to unsafe practices, such as using outdated space heaters or leaving the oven open to provide heat.
To apply for energy assistance, visit the Campaign for Home Energy Assistance website. This website provides listings for each state that furnishes Low Income Home Energy Assistance. Each state offers different assistance and has different requirements.The website also provides eligibility requirements, contact phone numbers and in some cases, applications for downloading.
A coalition of United States senators are requesting that President Bush release a contingency fund for LIHEAP to $20 million for the year 2008. They are also requesting an additional $2.4 billion for the energy assistance program. Energy assistance is vital for homeowners and renters who cannot afford to pay their heating bills.
Connect2Agent has contacted Sherry Vogel, program specialist for the LIHEAP Clearinghouse, to find the best avenue to support the release of these funds. We will publish her response when we receive it.
Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson