Latest news with #LIHEAP
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
The Republican Plot to Let People Die of Heatstroke
A study released on Wednesday by the World Meteorological Organization found an 80 percent likelihood that at least one of the next five years will break new heat records, surpassing 2024 to become the hottest year ever recorded. The National Weather Service has predicted that this summer will be among the hottest ever in the United States. The Trump administration, meanwhile, is taking a chain saw to programs that keep people alive when temperatures soar. As Republicans attempt to slash Inflation Reduction Act subsidies for renewable energy and electric vehicles, drastic cuts to programs that ostensibly have nothing to do with climate change could put more people at risk of getting sick and dying from extreme heat. Case in point is the relatively low-profile Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP. Created by Congress in 1981 as a means to help people afford the costs of heating and cooling their homes, it currently helps some 6.2 million people pay their bills. In early April, the Trump administration fired the program's entire staff of fewer than 30 people, whose jobs were housed within Robert F. Kennedy's Department of Health and Human Services. Congress allocated $4.1 billion to LIHEAP this fiscal year, about 90 percent of which had already been distributed to states by the time the administration decided to purge its staff. That leaves $378 million left to be given out, and no one left to do it. The White House's 2026 discretionary budget proposes eliminating LIHEAP altogether. LIHEAP's budget isn't a massive line item for the federal government, but it could be the difference between life and death for those who depend on it to keep their homes from turning into ovens. Roughly two million households across the Northeast rely on the program. In some of those states, more than 50 percent of LIHEAP users are over the age of 60—populations that are especially vulnerable to extreme heat. One Virginia-wide study found that zip codes with higher percentages of residents 65 and older were associated with a 23 percent higher risk of heat-related emergency room visits and hospital admissions in high temperatures. Keeping homes cooler can prevent those outcomes, but doing so is unaffordable for many. Roughly 17 percent of U.S. residents spend at least a tenth of their annual income on energy. One in four people here report keeping their homes at unsafe temperatures in order to save money. In Arizona's Maricopa County last year, for instance, 138 people died indoors of heat-related causes; 18 percent of those deaths occurred in homes where the air conditioning either wasn't turned on or wasn't working properly. Pennsylvania has canceled an LIHEAP program that provides free air conditioning units and fans to qualifying households. While those cuts are due to leftover American Rescue Act funds drying up, the end of federal LIHEAP funding could put additional lifesaving programs at risk. There are several steps that cities, states, and utilities could take to mitigate the damage of eliminating LIHEAP. But pressure on state and municipal budgets posed by impending Medicaid cuts, for instance, will make that more difficult. Soaring electricity bills force lower-income households to choose between keeping the air on and necessities like food and childcare. Discussions about Republican attacks on climate policy in recent weeks have focused mainly on the House's budget bill, which would gut IRA programs that incentivize corporations and homeowners to invest in low-carbon manufacturing, energy-efficient appliances, and renewable energy. Yet that bill's sweeping cuts to welfare state programs like Medicaid and SNAP benefits—which would kick tens of millions of people off both—could leave millions at risk of dying in heat waves in ways that are harder to track, as more people are forced to make dangerous trade-offs between staying cool, seeking out medical treatment, and putting food on the table. These pressures are especially acute for the country's 45 million renters. While states typically require landlords to keep renters' homes above a certain temperature in the winter, there are many fewer provisions to protect tenants against extreme heat. Some historically hotter municipalities—like Tempe, Arizona, and New Orleans—have put in place cooling standards and maximum temperature ordinances, but such protections are rare. Even rarer are rules that keep landlords from raising rents by exorbitant amounts if they do install air conditioners. The GOP has for years tried to paint climate policy as a wasteful extravagance for coastal liberals who want to virtue-signal to their neighbors by putting solar panels on their roofs and buying electric vehicles. As temperatures continue to rise, however, all policy is climate policy. Cuts that make people poorer also make them more vulnerable to baking in their homes; programs that keep people out of poverty help them avoid meeting that fate. In the short term, especially, LIHEAP, SNAP, and Medicaid are arguably as important to surviving a warming world as any of the programs that Democrats might advertise as being a part of their climate agenda. If Republicans take an ax to all of the above, they'll have blood on their hands.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
UETHDA's energy assistance outreach RV to visit area locations
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Upper East Tennessee Human Development Agency's (UETHDA) energy assistance outreach RV will travel to locations across the region in June to help those who may need assistance paying their energy bills. The agency offers assistance through the federally funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides energy assistance to approximately 6.7 million households nationwide. Bristol Life Saving Crew warns of impending possible closure To be fair and in accordance with Tennessee Human Development Agency guidelines, UETHDA utilizes a priority point system to allocate its limited funds. Priority is given to the low-income, energy-burdened, disabled, elderly, homes with children under 6 years old, veterans, and large households. Due to the limited funds, some who qualify for assistance may not receive enough points to be funded. Payments, which can take 90 days or longer to be applied, are sent directly to the recipient's utility company. The UETHDA's LIHEAP outreach RV will be at the following locations in June: Holston Electric-Church Hill (219 S Central Ave, Church Hill) 6/2/2025 9:00a-3:00p SH/Embreeville Cove (730 Bumpus Cove Rd, Erwin) 6/3/2025 9:45a SH/VFW Post 9724 Teleford/Jonesborough (2463 Hwy 11 E, Teleford) 6/3/2025 1:30p Priceless (3006 North J B Dennis, Kingsport) 6/4/2025 9:00a-3:00p Hope Helps (4540 W Stone Dr, Kingsport) 6/5/2025 9:00a-3:00p Habitat for Humanity (3201 Kimberly Ct, Johnson City) 6/6/2025 10:00a-3:00p Brightridge (2600 Boones Creek Rd, Johnson City) 6/9/2025 9:00a-3:00p Good Samaritan-Piney Flats (331 Industrial Park, Piney Flats) 6/10/2025 9:00a-3:00p Mtn Electric-Roan Mtn (8477 US-19E, Roan Mountain) 6/11/2025 9:00a-3:00p AMFS/River of Life (819 Austin Springs Rd, Piney Flats) 6/12/2025 7:00a SH/Buffalo Valley Church (111 Buffalo Valley Church Rd, Johnson City) 6/16/2025 9:30a SH/Unicoi Methodist (702 Virginia St, Unicoi) 6/16/2025 10:30a SH/East Pine Grove UMC (2215 East Unaka Ave, Johnson City) 6/16/2025 1:30p Habitat for Humanity (750 East Main St, Kingsport) 6/17/2025 9:00a-3:00p SH/Community Fellowship (430 E 4th Ave, Watauga) 6/23/2025 9:30a SH/New Vision COG (1109 Division St, Johnson City) 6/23/2025 12:30p Church Hill Medical Mission Clinic (401 Richmond St, Church Hill) 6/24/2025 1:00p-7:00p Shepards Center (306 E Main St, Rogersville) 6/25/2025 9:00a-1:00p Higher Ground Church (1625 Lynn Garden Dr, Kingsport) 6/26/2025 8:30a-3:30p Good Samaritan-Johnson City (100 N Roan St, Johnson City) 6/27/2025 9:00a-3:00p Salvation Army (200 Ashe St, Johnson City) 6/30/2025 9:00a-3:00p Those interested in the program may also visit one of the agency's nine neighborhood service centers or call 423-246-6180 for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Over 1 million Pennsylvanians could be affected if LIHEAP ends under Trump's proposed budget, advocates warn
LIHEAP, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, has long helped Pennsylvanians keep their heat on during the coldest months of the year. But now it could be in jeopardy. The Trump administration's proposed federal budget allocates zero dollars to LIHEAP, effectively ending the program. LIHEAP helps hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians each year, whether it's paying utility bills or providing emergency services. If the program disappears, the consequences could go far beyond just losing heat on a freezing day. With any delay, budget cut or complete elimination of the program, there could be devastating outcomes. "This is a program that really helps ensure that the roughly 1.2 million low-income Pennsylvanians across the state are going to be able to keep the heat on through the winter," said Elizabeth Marx, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project. The LIHEAP program provides cash grants, crisis assistance, emergency furnace repair and replacement, offering hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance every year. If the funding disappears, so do the services. "Families may not be able to put as much food on the table. They will cut their medicine in half. We've had clients who are using only half of the oxygen that they should be using or cutting their pills in half," said Marx. "We'll see more folks with health issues, we'll see higher incidents of housing insecurity that comes as a result of utility insecurity." Locally, organizations like the Holy Family Institute help thousands of people apply for LIHEAP assistance each year. Their services reach around 35,000 residents, many of them seniors on fixed incomes. "The fixed-income seniors who can't forecast the weather, they can't be prepared for a cold snap or an extended heat wave that causes their utility bills, whether it's gas or electric, to go above and beyond maybe what they've budgeted," said Michael Sexauer, the president of Holy Family Institute. The idea of the program ending, he says, is deeply concerning. "If the program goes away, then you're forcing those individuals, whether they're single moms or elderly or on a fixed income or someone in between, you're forcing them to make a decision of what they actually do pay for," Sexauer said. While smaller local programs exist, none can match the scale or reach of LIHEAP. "Those that rely on propane, oil and wood to heat their home, and a couple thousand in Pennsylvania still heat with coal, and all of those heating sources, folks can get emergency assistance for, and that will go away," Marx said. As of now, the proposed budget is still making its way through the federal government, with no clear indication whether it will pass or fail. In the meantime, officials urge residents who are struggling to never let bills go unpaid and to contact their utility companies or local agencies for help before it's too late.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
This program helps 6 million families pay their energy bills. Here's what's at risk if it's cut.
The Trump administration wants to eliminate the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a little-known piece of the social safety net that helps low-income people pay their utility bills. Congress created the program in 1981, initially to help people pay for heating in the winter. The program — which has had broad bipartisan support — has increasingly been used to pay for cooling as summers grow hotter and more dangerous to human health due to climate change. At a recent budget hearing, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, called the program a 'lifesaver' for residents in Alaska when questioning Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about its future. Kennedy acknowledged the importance of the program but also said Trump's proposal to eliminate the funding was based on the expectation of lower future energy prices. Yet according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, residential energy prices are expected to go up in much of the country at least through 2026. Murkowski and lawmakers from across the aisle have been pressuring the administration to commit to funding the program, which provided $4.1 billion to states, territories and tribal nations in fiscal 2025. But the administration has not only called to defund the program in its entirety, but also has put the staff that administer the program at Health and Human Services (HHS) on leave. Advocates say the end of the program could be disastrous for households who rely on other government benefits that are also under threat, like the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid, which are both facing deep cuts. As the funding of LIHEAP continues to be debated on the national level, here's an explanation of what the program does and who it helps: LIHEAP helps about 6 million households pay their heating- and cooling-related utility bills annually and prevents disconnections through an emergency assistance fund. The payments typically go directly to the utility companies. States tailor the program to best fit the needs of residents. For example, in places like Arizona, where extreme heat kills hundreds of people a year, a higher allocation of funding goes to cooling assistance. In some states, funds can be used to repair furnaces or air conditioning units. States are required to account for both a household's income and its energy burden, or the percentage of a family's income that goes to pay utility bills, to target those most at risk for utility disconnections. Low-income households typically have higher energy burdens, often due to homes with poor insulation or drafty windows and doors. The LIHEAP program targets households with family members who are particularly vulnerable to extreme temperatures. In fiscal 2023, the program reached 2.1 million households where a resident had a disability; nearly 1 million households that had small children; and 2.4 million households that housed an elderly person. Both children and the elderly are more sensitive to extreme temperatures because they are physiologically less able to regulate their body temperature. People with complex medical needs also shoulder higher energy costs, due to electricity-dependent medical equipment. Single parents, who are disproportionately women, are more likely to be energy insecure, as are rural residents, Black, Indigenous and Latinx households. And the people who utilize the program are usually on the brink of an emergency — either already disconnected from their utility or on the verge of it. 'By the time they're reaching out for help, it's that their situation has escalated,' said Diana Hernandez, an associate professor and sociologist at Columbia University who studies energy insecurity. Only about 17 percent of eligible households receive LIHEAP assistance, said Hernandez, who has been pushing to increase funding for the program. 'The money always runs out,' she said. Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, an organization that works with state officials to implement LIHEAP, said electricity costs are going up at a higher rate than inflation and that rising temperatures are also leading to a greater need for cooling. 'In Southwestern states the length of the [heat waves are] getting longer,' Wolfe said. 'The bills are going up, and a lot of housing is just poorly built … so the costs are going up faster than expected,' he said. LIHEAP has multiple benefits that all center on keeping people safe and healthy in their homes, advocates say. While in many states residents have some protection from a utility disconnecting their electricity, without energy assistance programs like LIHEAP more households would likely keep their homes at dangerous temperatures to keep their bills down. In a Census Household Pulse Survey from 2024, nearly 23 percent of households reported keeping their homes at unsafe temperatures over the previous 12 months due to rising energy costs. But doing so is risky in places like Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located. While there is a moratorium on electricity shutoffs during the summer, in 2024, 138 people died indoors of a heat-related cause, with 18 percent of those deaths in a home where the AC was functioning but not turned on. Seventy percent did not have a working AC unit in a place where average summer temperatures are over 100 degrees. These deaths occurred in a state where over 20,000 households received LIHEAP assistance in fiscal 2023, according to the National Energy Utility Affordability Coalition, which tracks state use of funds. Without the program, 'we'll be having more and more of these unnecessary deaths,' Wolfe said. Helping to pay energy bills has also been shown to help keep families more food secure. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 20 percent of U.S. households said they skipped meals and medicines to pay for electricity bills in 2020, a time when households were under additional stress due to the pandemic. And in a 2019 survey of LIHEAP recipients, 36 percent said that before they began to receive energy assistance, they went without food for at least a day to pay utility bills. It's called the 'heat or eat' phenomenon. 'Just because the bill gets paid, people should not assume that that's not at great cost,' said Olivia Wein, senior attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. But with multiple social welfare programs facing deep cuts, 'it's going to be harder and harder for people to do that, to juggle enough to get the bills paid on time,' she said. Wein points out that people's housing security could also be impacted. Maintaining a utility connection is a condition on many housing leases, and without LIHEAP, more people could face evictions, Wein fears. She's also worried children could be taken from their parents. 'Not having heat in the winter could result in Child Protective Services getting involved because your home is not habitable,' she said. 'So there are all of these ripple effects from unaffordable energy that we will unfortunately see on the grand scale without a strong LIHEAP program.' For fiscal 2025, all of the program's funding has already been released, so residents won't see an impact until fiscal 2026, which starts in September. But even if the program is funded, Wein says there will be issues with disbursement because of the federal layoffs. While each state develops individual programs, they still have to run their plans by the federal agency every year to determine state allocations, Wein said. This plan is also accompanied by a complicated formula that happens each time funding is released. Right now only four people are managing the LIHEAP program on the federal level; after the entire office was laid off in April. Wein predicts this will delay funding being sent to the states. HHS did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Additionally, community action agencies, places around the country where people go to apply for benefits like LIHEAP, could be shut down, due to a separate move to defund the Community Services Block Grant. This would make it harder for residents to apply to the program. 'We need that funding as part of our whole ecosystem,' Wein said. Trump also sought to zero out LIHEAP funding in his first term, but Congress ultimately is in charge of approving a budget. But Wein said the precarity of the program feels different this time around. 'Congress is really looking at cutting, cutting, cutting, cutting. … Things that you would never imagine being cut like entitlement programs are in live discussion right now. So that's the unknown.' Advocates say that there really isn't any other comparable safety net for residents seeking energy assistance if LIHEAP ends up being cut. Though alternatives like charitable giving and religious organizations can help pay for energy costs, it doesn't come close to meeting the needs of 6 million people who were previously reached by the program, Wein said. 'There is no easy fix and there is no comprehensive fix to losing LIHEAP,' she said. 'Every state is going to be devastated with the loss of this funding.' The post This program helps 6 million families pay their energy bills. Here's what's at risk if it's cut. appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump plan to zero out energy assistance would be a deadly blow to Eastern Kentucky
Installing insulation to weatherize homes, which saves energy and lowers costs, is part of what the Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) does. In fiscal year 2023, the program weatherized more than 60,000 homes nationwide, averting power disconnections. (Mountain Association photo) By any measure, the economy of Eastern Kentucky and the wider Appalachian region is struggling. The collapse of the coal industry, the opioid crisis and the recurring natural disasters have left scars that are slow to heal. Families and individual households trying to make ends meet rely on an array of federal assistance. Recently, there have been cuts or threats to these assistance programs, including a proposed total elimination of a vital energy assistance program that supports 6 million low-income households each year across the country. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is zeroed out in the proposed federal budget for the fiscal year that begins in September 2025. LIHEAP provides life-saving aid to millions of Americans by helping them afford their heating and cooling bills. For many, it is the difference between choosing food or heat, medicine or air conditioning. In 2024 alone, the program was utilized more than 219,000 times by Kentucky households. These are small disbursements — a max of $250 per season — that function as safety nets for working families, elderly residents and people with disabilities who are trying to survive on limited incomes in one of the most energy-burdened regions in the country. Despite this need, the Trump administration's 2026 budget proposes defunding LIHEAP entirely. Their reasoning is that lower energy prices are on the horizon thanks to a move toward American energy dominance and the America First platform. But here in Kentucky, the future hasn't arrived yet. Energy bills are still going up, not down. In some Eastern Kentucky counties, low-income families pay up to 14.5% of their income on utility bills — more than double the 6% threshold that experts define as a 'high' energy burden. Rural residents, especially those living in older, less energy-efficient homes, feel this pain the most. Rural areas often pay disproportionately high electricity costs due to utilities charging higher rates, in part due to infrastructure costs utilities incur covering more miles of transmission lines, etc., and in part due to utilities being owned by investors who are guaranteed a certain rate of return on their investment. And while some cities have access to local programs that might soften the blow of high bills, rural communities often don't. That's where LIHEAP comes in. It funds weatherization improvements that make homes more efficient — reducing future energy costs and minimizing the need for repeated emergency assistance. In fiscal year 2023, the program weatherized more than 60,000 homes nationwide and helped prevent countless power disconnections. The federal government allocated approximately $54 million in LIHEAP funds to Kentucky in fiscal year 2025. To access these funds, individuals must meet certain requirements and provide documentation showing their need for assistance. These requirements are designed to support Kentucky's most vulnerable residents and some examples include households where someone has a health condition or disability (verified by a doctor's note), someone is 65 or older, or a child under the age of 6 is present. This money is especially important during the extreme summer and winter temperatures Kentucky experiences. Kentucky is one of just 10 states where utility shutoffs due to nonpayment are allowed even during dangerous weather events. Sometimes families are cut off because they owe as little as $6. Cutting LIHEAP cannot just be a budget decision — this is an issue that needs to consider the survival of our most vulnerable neighbors. Because it's so critical, the program is housed under the Department of Health and Human Services and has received bipartisan support for nearly 45 years. The Trump administration recently acknowledged that Appalachia is at a disadvantage due to loss of coal jobs and the opioid crisis, and because of that, it was leaving funding for another program in the budget that benefits this area. We argue that many low-income communities across the country face similar systemic challenges that have them needing a little extra help to stay and revitalize these areas of the United States. If you have an experience to share about how LIHEAP has impacted you or your community in a time of need, now is the time to share your story. Chris Woolery is the Energy Projects Coordinator at Mountain Association. Over his career, Chris has helped deliver residential energy efficiency upgrades to more than 800 households. He can be reached at chris@
