Energy associations urge Congressional leadership for $10B in emergency LIHEAP funds

In a letter dispatched last week, the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA) wrote House and Senate leadership with a request to inject emergency funding into the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which has already committed its $900 million in supplemental funds.

COVID-related unemployment is wreaking havoc on millions of families, the organization insisted, with some households posting gas and electric bill arrearages of up to $3,000 and rising. Some are holding on only due to voluntary and mandatory utility shut-off moratoriums, as these keep them connected to services, but bills continue to mount in the meantime. An analysis of arrearages by NEADA concluded that arrearages were likely to reach $32 billion by the end of 2020.

LIHEAP had supplemental funding of $900 million provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Those funds have already been fully allocated and had only been able to reach a fraction of households in need. NEADA concluded that another $25 billion provided for rent relief and utility bills under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 would, in all likelihood, go primarily toward rent assistance.

In response, NEADA has requested $10 billion in additional emergency funding to make up the shortfall. Of this, 50 percent would be used by states to help up to 4 million families pay off growing utility debts, while the other half would go to help 7 million families pay current bills through Sept. 30, 2021. Without, the drag this could put on families — and smaller utilities — could imperil a struggling economy and its recovery efforts.

In this request, NEADA was joined by nine other organizations, including the Coalition on Human Needs, the National Association for State Community Service Programs, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, National Association of State Energy Officials, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, National Community Action Partnership, National Consumer Law Center, National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition and the National Resources Defense Council.