The Trump administration is distributing its entire allocation of low-income heating assistance, rather than paying it out to states in installments.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released $3.7 billion in Home Energy Assistance Program money. All told, the funding is expected to help about 6.5 million households across the United States this year.
Mark Wolfe, from the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, said it's the first time the money was released in its entirety instead of installments since 2009. He said the money will help states get heating assistance programs underway as temperatures dip.
Maine Housing spokesperson Denise Lord says that the state typically gets around $35 million dollars per year in energy assistance funding and serves 37-38,000 households per year.
“The winter started a little early in terms of temperature, so we're encouraging people to apply early, and I'm hoping that people will do that because the benefit is there, and we really want people to be warm this winter,” she says.
Lord says it doesn't matter what type energy is being used for heating, and the program isn't limited to homeowners. She says renters who pay the cost of utilities are eligible to apply.
The funding is distributed through community action agencies across the state.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says the cost of staying warm this winter is expected to grow for the average American with the greatest increase, 20 percent, for heating oil users.
