Released: December 18, 2009

Government helps more Americans pay their heat bills

Source: Julie Schmit, USA Today

More Americans are getting help to pay home heating bills, and more are likely to need help as the economy continues to struggle, says the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association.

Almost 8 million U.S. households received federal government help to heat homes in fiscal year 2009, up 33% from the prior year, the association says. Applications for assistance in the current fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, are running even higher as more people join the ranks of the long-term unemployed, the association says.

“It looks like 2010 will be a very difficult winter for a lot of people,” says Mark Wolfe, the association’s executive director. The group represents programs that subsidize energy bills.

More households got assistance last year because of increased funding. Congress gave $5.1 billion to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. That was up from $2.6 billion in fiscal 2008.

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Keywords

Heat, Heating Bills, Home Heating Bills, Government Assistance, Liheap