Latest news with #HuntsvilleUtilities
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Portion of Walker Lane to close for transmission pole work
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Huntsville Utilities said a portion of Walker Lane would be closed starting June 2 for workers to change out the transmission poles. HU said the work begins Monday and will last through June 12 (Monday through Thursday only). The company said Electric Operations workers will close Walker Lane between Dilly D Harbin Road and Butler Road to change out the transmission poles. The closure is said to start at 8 a.m. each day and to end around 3 p.m. Detour signs will be placed to divert traffic to Billy D Harbin Road and Henry Taylor Road, HU said. Drivers are asked to avoid this area if possible, but if you need to drive through the area, use caution because workers will be present. Also, drivers who cannot avoid the work zone need to be prepared for shifting traffic patterns and possible delays. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal funding restored for low-income Alabama utility assistance after outcry
The skyline of Huntsville, Alabama. A spokesperson for Huntsville Utilities told Inside Climate News on Friday that federal funds have been restored to the 255 households that received letters earlier this month saying that an executive order from President Donald Trump had canceled a low-income energy assistance program. () This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. A program meant to help low-income Alabamians pay their utility bills has resumed two weeks after it was canceled due to an executive order from President Donald Trump. The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, which administers the grants, told Inside Climate News this week in a one-sentence email that it 'has resumed the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program – Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.' The department did not respond to multiple requests for more information or answer whether it had received guidance from the federal government to reinstate the program after numerous local and national media outlets reported on the story. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The controversy started when 255 households that get power from Huntsville Utilities in north Alabama received letters stating that a $100 credit they had received from the program had been 'rescinded,' and that these households would have to pay back that amount on their next bill. '… the grant you received for $100.00 on January 23, 2025 is no longer valid due to President Trump's Executive Order to rescind the funding behind the grant,' the letter states. 'The grant you received for $100.00 has been debited to your account and will be due with your next invoice.' The media reports focused on those 255 households, but the impact was much larger. Mike Presley, a spokesman for ADECA, told Inside Climate News last week that 'about 2,000' households in Alabama were in some stage of receiving those funds. Presley said on Feb. 11 that ADECA was 'awaiting further guidance from federal agencies on how to proceed.' Joe Gehrdes, director of external affairs for Huntsville Utilities, told Inside Climate News on Friday that the federal funds have been restored to the 255 households that received the letters earlier this month. 'We can confirm the funds are reaching those affected by the previous pause,' Gehrdes said via email. 'Our billing department has been in contact with our local Community Action Partnership, and everything is moving forward as originally intended.' The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is an effort by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Presley said $53 million of that funding would continue. However, the program received an additional $1 million through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Presley said that $1 million was halted due to Trump's executive order 'Unleashing American Energy,' which directs agencies to 'immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.' It's unclear at this time if or when ADECA received federal guidance to resume the program. Daniel Tait, executive director of clean energy advocacy group Energy Alabama, said questions remain about why Alabama halted and then reinstated the program, while other states never rescinded the funds in the first place. 'We are glad to see that the 2000 or so Alabamians who were promised energy assistance will now get the help they need,' Tait said in an email. 'It appears that the situation was limited to Alabama which raises questions about why our state withheld funds and our neighbors did not. 'Moving fast and breaking things is not smart energy policy and real people get hurt in the crossfire,' Tait said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump executive order takes back funds to help low-income Alabama residents pay electric bills
The skyline of Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville Utilities, a city-owned electric utility in north Alabama, said that it sent letters to 255 customers earlier this month informing that that an executive order from President Donald Trump had cost them federal assistance with energy bills. () This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. About 2,000 low-income households in Alabama are poised to lose federal assistance to help them pay high energy bills, under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. For many of the recipients, the $100 credit had already been applied to their power bill. Now, with the funding removed, that amount will instead be added to their next bill. Huntsville Utilities, a city-owned electric utility in north Alabama, told Inside Climate News that it had sent letters to 255 such customers earlier this month informing them of the loss of funding. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Community Action Agency of Huntsville/Madison & Limestone Counties has notified us that the grant you received for $100.00 on January 23, 2025 is no longer valid due to President Trump's Executive Order to rescind the funding behind the grant,' the letter states. 'The grant you received for $100.00 has been debited to your account and will be due with your next invoice.' The funding came from a $1 million award included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, according to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), the state agency that administers the federal grant. The $1 million was to provide additional assistance to families already enrolled in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. ADECA spokesman Mike Presley said the funding for the program was paused due to Trump's executive order 'Unleashing American Energy,' which directs agencies to 'immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.' Efforts by the Trump administration to use executive orders to revoke funding already allocated by Congress have spurred what many describe as a 'constitutional crisis,' as the executive branch under Trump attempts to wrest control from the other branches of government. Democrats and others claim the moves violate the U.S. Constitution, which clearly gives Congress the sole authority to appropriate and legislate. 'President Trump is still illegally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars in investments that are owed to communities across the country,' U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a statement last week. 'If Donald Trump or Elon Musk want to gut funding that's creating good-paying jobs all across America, they can take their case to Congress and win the votes they need to do it. Defying the constitution to unilaterally rip away your tax dollars is not how this works,' Murray said. 'These funds were meant to lower energy costs for families. Now, about 2,000 households are left in limbo with higher bills and could be facing disconnections.' – Daniel Tait, Energy Alabama In this instance, the broader constitutional fight is making it harder for low-income Alabamians to pay their electric bills. Daniel Tait, executive director of Energy Alabama, a nonprofit clean energy advocacy group, said the move is 'yet another example of politics getting in the way of helping everyday Alabamians.' 'These funds were meant to lower energy costs for families,' Tait said in an email. 'Now, about 2,000 households are left in limbo with higher bills and could be facing disconnections. Every single congressional representative and senator should be demanding answers and working to get relief for Alabamians.' Presley said that at the time of the pause, 'approximately 2,000 households statewide had applied for and were at some point in the process of receiving the $100 supplemental award.' Presley said Alabama is still receiving $53 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program from the HHS in fiscal 2025. Only the $1 million supplemental funding contained in the Jobs Act was impacted by the executive order. To be eligible for assistance under LIHEAP, households must have total income less than 150 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, or lower than 60 percent of the state median income level. For a household of four, that translates to $48,225. The amount awarded depends on income, number of household members, and whether the household includes people over age 60 or under 18. 'Community action agencies are currently providing emergency assistance with home heating bills to eligible households through that funding, which can range from $280-$550,' Presley said via email. 'There is no pause in that funding.' Presley said ADECA is awaiting further guidance from federal agencies on how to proceed. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
