The federal government will soon release about $38 million in heating assistance funding to Maine, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced Friday.
The release of Home Energy Assistance Program funds, which usually happens in late October or early November, would be one of the earliest in recent memory. Collins and independent U.S. Sen. Angus King were among 31 senators to sign a letter last month to the Department of Health and Human Services asking for the expedited release of funding.
The HEAP funding, paid through MaineHousing to heating suppliers as a supplement for low-income households’ winter costs, comes as heating oil prices in Maine hover around a record high, set last month at more than $6 per gallon.
Maine, as the state most reliant on heating oil, stands to gain most from the release of these funds. About 45,000 people received LIHEAP help last year, MaineHousing said.
“I am pleased that these funds are being released to help Mainers afford to heat their homes this winter without having to choose between staying warm and paying for other basic necessities,” Collins said in a news release.
To kickstart the heating oil program, MaineHousing announced this week that it would use about $4 million leftover from last winter for about 4,400 vulnerable households across the state.
But that $4 million, combined with the $38 million coming from the federal government this month, will not go as far this winter.
The average HEAP award was set by MaineHousing this summer at about $700, communications director Scott Thistle said Thursday. But after oil costs skyrocketed at the end of the summer and into the fall, the value of that help has fallen significantly, he said.
Last winter, about $23 million in HEAP funding went to heating oil vendors. This year, that number is expected to be about $31 million, Thistle said, including the $4 million in carryover funds.
While about $36.7 million of the federal funding set to be released will go to MaineHousing, about $1.4 million will go to tribal nations: $457,771 will go to the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Tribe, $316,098 will go to the Indian Township Passamaquoddy Tribe, $303,530 will go to the Penobscot Nation, and $165,665 each will go to the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and the Mi’kmaq Nation.
Collins, in the Friday news release, claimed credit for the early release of the funds and touted her work as Senate Appropriations Committee chair to increase HEAP funding nationwide by $20 million. She said she recently spoke with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, about the importance of releasing the funds.
Last week, though, Gov. Janet Mills wrote to Maine’s congressional delegation demanding that the federal government allocate additional money for heating assistance, saying the war in Iran has made heating oil unaffordable for many and that the assistance won’t go as far as families expect.
“Federal funding levels appropriated for LIHEAP this winter did not fully consider the drastic impacts of the president’s war that has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and are now insufficient for the circumstances that Maine and other cold-climate states now face,” Mills said.
Heating oil has become a campaign issue, too, less than a month from Election Day. Collins and her Democratic challenger, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, have blamed each other for high costs. Gubernatorial candidates have also called for more heating assistance.
Applications for heating assistance are open now. Maine residents hoping to apply for HEAP funding or looking for other assistance can contact their local community action program or call 211. The state also releases an annual Winter Heating Guide with cost-saving resources for households of all incomes.