LIHEAP Funding Cuts Announced
Home heating oil customers on fixed incomes who have relied on federal heating aid face cuts as part of a $1 trillion federal budget package. (image: needhamoil.com)
The US House has approved a $1.2 billion cut to the federal home heating aid program despite staunch protests by lawmakers across the oil-reliant Northeast.
The cut was signed off on Friday as part of a $1 trillion-plus last minute spending package to avert a government shutdown, wptz.com reported.
The move reduces the amount of funding available for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) from $4.7 billion last year to $3.5 billion – a 25 percent reduction.
It comes amid spiralling heating oil prices and fears vulnerable residents on fixed incomes will be forced to choose between food and heating their homes this winter. Though the heating season has had a mild start, temperatures are expected to plummet. Millions of households in the Northeast which rely on fuel oil as their primary heating source are expected to be worst hit.
The $1.2 billion cut is about half that that originally proposed by the Obama Administration. But agencies who deal with heating aid requests say applications for the program are already up on last year as the recession bites and folks struggle to find jobs and balance their budgets.
Lawmakers across the Northeast have rallied in a bid to prevent fuel aid cuts. A group of senators introduced a new bill designed to stave off the cuts and hold LIHEAP funding at last year’s level to prevent the poor and elderly going cold.
Heating oil dealers have also been campaigning for the program’s funding to be maintained. As oil dealers visit homeowners to refill their tanks, they know first-hand the struggle facing many families just to survive.
The state of Vermont’s will get $19.5 million in federal heating aid this winter, down from $26 million last year. Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch said the funding cut would cause hardships for many Vermonters. They vowed to keep fighting for more aid, boston.news reported.
“The relentless budget battles in Washington are taking their toll on those who can least afford it,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said it would be difficult, given his state’s tight budget, to cover the reduction. Last winter, the state spent $115 million in aid and now expects to receive $79.5 million under the federal spending package.
The average family will pay $3300 to heat the home with oil this winter in New England, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association. That’s about $500 more than last winter. About half of the region’s homes use oil heat, the group said.
Meanwhile, best-selling author Stephen King’s efforts to raise money for low income Maine residents to heat their homes this winter have exceeded expectations – generating $240,000. The internationally-acclaimed horror writer said he was grateful to everyone who had contributed to help keep vulnerable people on fixed incomes warm.
Hunger Strike Over Heating Oil Cuts
A Romanian mayor is so incensed at cuts to winter heating oil subsidies he has gone on hunger strike on behalf of the people who face freezing temperatures of minus 22 degrees. (image: goeasteurope.about.com)
A Romanian mayor has gone on hunger strike in protest at cuts to government heating oil subsidies.
Brad mayor Florin Cazacu, 46, refused to eat for six days in support of the town’s residents, who face freezing temperatures this winter of -22 degrees, dailynews.com reported.
As part of an austerity measures package to satisfy the International Monetary Fund, Romania has promised to scrap government subsidies for centralised heating. It has also cut salaries and increased a value added tax to one of the highest levels in Europe to help balance the books. The government must also liberalise its gas and power market in stages by 2015.
The heat subsidy cuts follow similar moves here in the US to address the federal government’s massive deficit. The Obama administration has proposed slashing the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by billions of dollars this winter to help reduce costs. But the proposal has sparked fears for thousands of vulnerable Americans who rely on heat fuel subsidies to stay warm when temperatures plunge below freezing.
The Romanian government’s decision to scrap the heating subsidy left Brad with a three million lei (US$912,500) shortfall in heat aid funds. Faced with the prospect of his citizens not being able to afford to stay warm this winter, Cazacu refused food to draw attention the people’s plight.
And on Friday the Government offered a compromise of sorts, announcing it would give Brad one million lei, which Cazacu said was a good start, but still not enough.
“The funds will ensure there is enough fuel oil for a period of 15 days, but let’s not forget winter is just starting,” Cazacu told the Agerpres news agency.
Cazacu abandoned his hunger strike late last week on the advice of colleagues after being rushed to hospital feeling sick.
“I confess that my health has deteriorated.”
Cazacu said he would keep pressuring the government to supply 2500 tonnes of fuel oil from state reserves to ensure Brad had enough heating fuel for the entire winter season.
Meanwhile, US agencies who divvy out fuel aid assistance warn resources are already stretched. They are hoping more LIHEAP funding will be released, with average residential heating oil prices tipped to hit their highest levels on record this winter.
Pennsylvania LIHEAP Cuts Announced
Pennsylvania has slashed the amount of fuel aid it will dish out this winter in the face of expected cuts to the federal heating assistance programe, pittsburglive.com reports.
“It’s going to be really tough,” Allegheny Valley Association of Churches executive director Karen Snair said. “There’s going to be a lot of people in need who are not going to get the help they need.”
The Obama administration has signalled it will cut the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) this heating season by half to $2.5 billion.
But with average residential heating oil prices forecast to hit their highest ever levels this winter, there are fears for those homeowners on low or fixed incomes.
LIHEAP provides grants for home heating so people who are struggling to pay don’t have to go cold once temperatures dip. Volatile heating oil prices in recent years have seen the number of homeowners applying for the fuel aid program spike.
Many states have been campaigning for LIHEAP funding to remain unchanged to protect the most vulnerable residents.
In response to federal funding cuts, Pennsylvania has lowered the amount of aid it will dish out and the maximum amount of money people can earn to qualify for heating assistance, Department of Welfare spokeswoman Carey Miller said.
The income limit to receive aid has been cut from $17,328 to $16,335 for one person. For two people, the limit is $22,065, down from $23,312. The state has also reduced the minimum cash benefit recipients can get to $100, down from $300 last year – and crisis grants have been lowered from $400 to $300. The money goes directly to utility companies.
The changes to aid and income limits aimed “to stretch the dollars so that we can service as many people that we possibly can,” Miller said. “All states are really struggling with this.”
Pennsylvania got $326 million in federal LIHEAP funding last year. This year, it expects to receive just $163 million, Miller said.
Nearly 75,000 households received cash assistance or crisis grants last year. A similar number of applications are expected this winter.
But with high unemployment and little prospect of work for many people, there are fears that aid application numbers will rise.
Adams Petroleum in Ohio Township vice president Mike Adams said with higher average fuel bills expected, the money would not go as far.
“We have a lot of heating oil customers on heating assistance,” he said. “A lot of them are elderly and on fixed incomes. My heart goes out to them.”
Lawmakers Fear Winter Cuts to Federal Heat Aid
President Barack Obama's administration proposes slashing the federal LIHEAP heat aid assistance program in half this year in a bid to help reduce the federal deficit. Hundreds of thousands of low income households rely on the aid to heat their homes during winter. (image: greencarreports.com)
As folks swelter in 100 degree temperatures, lawmakers in the Northeast are already turning their attention to proposed cuts in federal heat aid for the coming winter.
The Obama administration proposes cutting the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by half to $2.6 billion. With oil prices set to rise again for the coming winter, officials fear low-income people will struggle to heat their homes.
The situation is made worse by high unemployment rates and the region’s freezing winters. A high proportion of homes in the Northeast rely on heating oil for heating fuel during winter.
Main Governor Paul Lepage warned this week that the state’s LIHEAP funding could be cut in half from $54m to $26m, the sunjournal.com reported. He warned reduced funding could come as the cost of heating fuel rises above last year’s level and vowed to fight to prevent people freezing this winter.
The National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association says the average cost of heating a home in New England with oil will be nearly $3000 this winter, almost $650 more than last year. High unemployment and colder-than-average winter temperatures exacerbate the problem for poor families, it said.
“Every president in the last 15 years has proposed cuts in LIHEAP,” said Richard Moffi, fuel assistance program chief for Vermont. “It’s not unusual to see a president knock LIHEAP around,” Moffi’s organization faces a cut in heating assistance from $25.6 million to $11.6 million.
New Hampshire’s LIHEAP faces cuts from $36 million to $15 million. In Connecticut, the allocation would drop from $98 million to $41 million, Massachusetts from $175 million to $81 million, and Rhode Island from $34 million to $15.4 million.
New Hampshire started accepting applications last month from vulnerable households — those with residents over age 60, under age 6 or people with disabilities. The application process starts for the general public on September 1.
The Obama administration, questioned acknowledged that the new LIHEAP figure was based on the expectation that fuel prices would be lower this winter. But in northern New England, they’re expected to be in the $4-per-gallon range.
About seven in 10 New England homes use heating oil, the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute says. Federal figures from 2007, the latest available, show that just over 355,000 households in the six New England states received LIHEAP assistance.
NJ Heating Oil Tank Replacement Fund Runs Dry
A special fund to help New Jersey residents replace rusting heating oil tanks or pay for environmentally damaging oil spills has run dry, creating a backlog of applicants and millions of dollars in cleanup operations. (image: John Moore/Getty Images via propublica.org)
A special fund set up to help replace New Jersey’s rusting home heating oil tanks and pay for cleanup costs after damaging oil spills has run dry.
It means about 1300 homeowners will not get financial assistance next year, creating a backlog of spill cleanups worth an estimated $33 million, NJ.com reported.
Environmental advocates warn the New Jersey oil tank fund’s demise will see fewer old tanks replaced, resulting in more environmental disasters.
The fund was created in 1997. It gave eligible applicants grants or loans to pay for upgrades to old or leaking storage tanks and also covered oil spill cleanups. A portion of the state’s corporate business tax was used to fund the scheme. But the scheme has run out of money as the state government diverted the funds to other priorities while expanding the number of people and institutions eligible for the program.
Home heating oil spills can cause serious environmental damage as the oil seeps into soil, rivers and lakes, potentially contaminating drinking water and affecting bird and aquatic life. The oil is considered a hazardous material and must be cleaned up by licensed professionals according to stringent state regulations. It can cost upwards of $50,000 to remedy a major spill.
The average underground home heating oil tank holds between 550 and 1000 gallons of oil. They are usually made of steel and can suffer from corrosion after years of use without proper maintenance.
The New Jersey fund had paid for 12,587 projects to December 2010, according to the state Economic Development Authority, which oversees the fund with the Department of Environmental Protection. The department’s site remediation program assistant commissioner, David Sweeney, said residents were legally responsible for any spill.
“There will be cases where homeowners don’t have the money to do it, and if it ranks high enough, we’ll go in there and then we’ll put a lien on the property.”
The EDA warned last year that the tank fund could run out this year and urged lawmakers take action. But no changes were made. Like many state governments, New Jersey is trying to balance its books after the recession. The federal government is also considering slashing the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which gives financial aid to homeowners struggling with winter energy bills.
Free Heating Oil Distributed to Thousands of Tsunami Victims
About 28,000 are dead or missing after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered a massive tsunami last month, devastating northeastern coastal parts of Japan. (image: healthystylist.com)
An American-based non-profit organization is handing out free heating oil to desperate residents in disaster-ravaged Japan.
Decimated coastal populations are still reeling after last month’s magnitude 8.9 earthquake triggered monster tsunami waves, wiping away entire villages. About 28,000 people are dead or missing. And the world’s third biggest crude oil user suffered fresh anguish this week when it was rocked by a huge aftershock on Thursday, bringing more death and injury.
Ted Honcharik has been providing oil aid relief in Japan amid mass shortages, The Press-Enterprise reported on Friday. He arrived home this week to Riverside, California – whose longtime Japanese sister city of Sendai lost 300 lives.
Honcharik runs Pacific Tank Lines, a multi-state petroleum trucking company. He also chairs the Fuel Relief Fund – a Riverside-based non-profit organization that assists disaster victims by supplying much-needed fuel.
Ted Honcharik chairs the Fuel Relief Fund, which has been handing out free heating oil to thousands of tsunami victims. (image: pe.com)
He raced to northeast Japan days after the initial quake with military rations and iodine pills to guard against radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. Using a supply tanker, he and his team dished out thousands of gallons of heating fuel over 12 days in three tsunami-damaged towns. With temperatures in Japan still near freezing and supply lines disrupted, he estimates they have already helped 15,000 people.
Honcharik said the scale of the disaster was unimaginable. Residents would wait in line for hours clutching plastic containers just to get heating oil rations to warm their homes.
People with kids, old ladies hunched over pushing a cart, whatever, people on bicycles, people driving, literally driving over just to get two-and-a-half gallons of heating oil. Sometimes we’d have people in line a couple of hours just waiting for us to show up.
Many Japanese homes use small oil-powered space heaters. Grateful fuel aid recipients clapped, bowed and gave food as tokens of their appreciation. One woman gave Honcharik a piece of original art.
US military personnel at Misawa Air Base, which is located near the areas hardest hit by the disasters, were forced to ration heating oil following the disaster due to major shortages.
Honcharik is no stranger to working in disaster zones. In 2005 he supplied gasoline in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and he worked for three months in Haiti handing out diesel for generators after the 2010 earthquake. “In a disaster, it’s fuel, water, food, medicine [that are needed], and without fuel, some of those other things don’t occur.”
But nothing had prepared him for the scenes of utter destruction in Japan. Five-story concrete buildings have been washed away. Fishing boats, wrecked vehicles and debris clutter swamped streets. Military personnel continue the grim task of searching for submerged bodies.
Stricken Japanese residents wait in line for free rations of heating oil. The fuel is needed to heat homes but is in short supply following last month's twin natural disasters. (image: pe.com)
“You can take a thousand photos but unless you’re actually there and see what that size tsunami can do to a coastline and destroy everybody’s lives in 30 minutes – it’s unbelievable.”
It would take “years and years” for Japan to recover, he said.
The Fuel Relief Fund is trying to raise more money so it can keep distributing free heating oil to stricken Japanese. The aid team plans to remain in Japan for the next month.
“You feel like you’re accomplishing something right away,” Honcharik said. “You feel like you’re making a difference in these people’s terrible lives right away.”
Obama: Heating Assistance Cut Based on Lower Energy Prices; Claim Does Not Hold True for Heating Oil
President Obama at his budget press conference on Tuesday. His claim of falling energy prices since he took office is dead wrong when applied to heating oil. (image: Doug Mills/The New York Times via nytimes.com)
President Obama defended his budget at a press conference on Tuesday, and offered a specific explanation for why it includes a 50 percent cut to the LIHEAP energy assistance program. Boston.com reported on Tuesday that Obama believed energy prices had come down since he took office (in January 2009), which justified reducing the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program’s (LIHEAP) funding this year.
Here’s Obama’s full quote on the issue:
On the LIHEAP program, the home heating assistance program, we doubled the home heating assistance program when I first came into office in part because there was a huge energy spike, and so folks, if we just kept it at the same level, folks would have been in real trouble. Energy prices have now gone down but the cost of the program has stayed the same. So what we’ve said is let’s go back to a more sustainable level.
The president’s comment was his first on the specific question of the $2.5-billion-dollar cut to LIHEAP funding included in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2011. Since the cut was first reported last week, it has been sharply criticized by politicians and private citizens alike (a quick search on Twitter reveals strong opposition to LIHEAP cuts). Supporters of maintaining LIHEAP’s current funding of $5.1 billion rebutted Obama’s justification by saying that even though energy prices may have come down over the last two years, unemployment remains high and more Americans than ever currently rely on LIHEAP assistance to stay warm.
While President Obama’s logic applies to natural gas prices, which have been falling steadily for the last two years, it is far from true for heating oil. According to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, the NYMEX price for 1 million BTUs of natural gas on the day of Obama’s inauguration (January 20, 2009) was $4.64 and the its closing price at the NYMEX today (February 16, 2011) was $3.98. That 66-cent decline represents a 14 percent decrease in natural gas prices over the last two years. This drop in prices for natural gas, by far the most widely used heating fuel in the US, was a significant relief for natural gas users. But following the president’s logic in the natural gas category, wouldn’t a 14 percent decrease in prices justify a 14 percent (or thereabouts) reduction in assistance funding, not a 50 percent cut?
As for heating oil, the president’s assessment is pretty far off. Crude and heating oil prices hit their highest levels ever in summer of 2008, only to crash along with the US economy in late 2008 and early 2009. By January 20, 2009, heating oil prices had fallen a great distance from their July 2008 peak and were quite affordable in the context of preceding heating seasons. The 2010-2011 heating season has unfortunately been a different story: a host of factors has driven up the price of heating oil sharply over the last 12 months, and heating oil users are feeling the pinch. According to data from the EIA, the NYMEX price for a gallon of heating oil on January 20, 2009 was $1.38. Today, heating oil closed at $2.77 per gallon at the NYMEX. That’s a $1.39 or 100 percent increase in just over two years. In the last year alone, the price of heating oil at the NYMEX has jumped 77 cents per gallon, from $2.00 on February 16, 2010.
The market price for heating oil has risen steeply over the past year. (image: ft.com)
Lower natural gas prices over the last two years may reasonably justify a reduction in LIHEAP funding, as President Obama claimed. However, the extreme opposite situation that heating oil users find themselves in would make a deep cut to LIHEAP funding utterly devastating to those who rely on the fuel to keep warm. The broad justification offered by the president for home energy assistance cuts simply couldn’t be less true when applied to heating oil users. Hopefully, the president will see the error in his judgment in this regard and eliminate or seriously scale back proposed cuts to LIHEAP aid funding, especially to heating oil-dependent Northeastern states.
Obama Budget Proposal Includes Cuts to Heating Oil Assistance
President Obama's 2012 budget plan includes cutting LIHEAP funding by nearly half. (image: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin via artesianews.com)
President Obama unveiled his administration’s fiscal year 2012 budget on Monday, and one of the controversial cuts proposed to help shrink the deficit was to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The proposed budget would slash LIHEAP funding by almost half, from this year’s $5.1 billion to $2.57 billion, the Huffington Post reported on Monday morning. The inclusion of the deep LIHEAP cut in the president’s budget confirmed reports of reduced heating aid funding that came out last week.
Whether President Obama’s plan to slash LIHEAP funding is a serious proposal or a political move marked for revision, it will almost certainly be one of the most hotly contested provisions in the budget proposal. Politicians from several Northeastern states have expressed forceful opposition to reducing LIHEAP funding, often citing unpredictable and currently rising heating oil prices that hurt their poorest constituents as proof that LIHEAP deserves full funding. With so many Northeastern residents dependent on LIHEAP assistance every winter, their reelection-conscious representatives in Congress will not allow any funding decreases without a fight.
The New York Times confirms that the president’s budget proposal also includes an end to billions of dollars’ worth of tax breaks and exemptions for oil companies, which the president highlighted in his State of the Union address last month. Those tax increases on the oil and gas industry are mixed news for retailers and consumers of heating oil: increased production costs could lead major oil companies to raise fuel prices, but the revenue from those reinstated taxes would subsidize production of biofuels, which could make biodiesel heating oil like Bioheat more affordable.
Stay with HeatingOil.com for updates on how these two measures fare in the coming battle over the national budget.
Report: New Obama Budget to Slash Heating Assistance Funding
Insiders report that President Obama will propose cutting LIHEAP's funding by almost half in his new budget. (image: homeenergyaffordabilitygap.com)
As part of an initiative to aggressively trim the national deficit, the Obama administration will propose a nearly 50 percent cut in funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), according to anonymous sources. The report on the proposed cuts was first published Wednesday in the Washington insider publication the National Journal, which referred to the sources as three “officials briefed on the subject.” The sources said that the proposal would cut $2.5 billion from LIHEAP’s current $5.1 billion funding package, but that the $590 million emergency fund for use during times of extreme cold or heat would remain untouched.
The story immediately sparked disapproval and outrage from public and private citizens, including members of Congress from both parties who represent the Northeast. In response to the news, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) sent a letter to the president urging him to keep LIHEAP’s funding intact (the full letter is available at the Huffington Post), writing:
We simply cannot afford to cut LIHEAP funding during one of the most brutal winters in history. Families across Massachusetts, and the country, depend on these monies to heat their homes and survive the season. It is estimated that over 3 million families that qualify for heating assistance would not receive it if the funding levels are not maintained. Compounding the situation is the increased cost of home heating oil, which is roughly 12 percent higher than last year.
Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), as well as Representative Edward Markey (D-MA) all expressed opposition to the proposed cuts in comments to the Journal. The political implications of the proposed cuts run deep for both Northeastern Congresspersons and the president. Representatives and Senators from Northeastern states know that the funds provided to their constituents in need, who are disproportionately elderly, are crucial to keeping those constituents warm and safe during the winter. Even constituents who don’t receive LIHEAP assistance generally view the program as an important and eminently worthy use of government funds. As such, LIHEAP is widely regarded, especially in the Northeast, to be something of a sacred cow whose funding should not be reduced under any circumstances—a reality that would mean political suicide for any politician in the region who supported cuts to LIHEAP funding.
President Obama, on the other hand, has a very different political interest in this particular issue. With a reelection campaign just getting underway, Obama is keenly aware that he needs to attack perceptions many Americans have of him as a liberal and freewheeling spender of government funds. One way to go about this would be to propose major funding cuts to government programs that left-leaning voters and leaders in his own party consider untouchable, and LIHEAP is just such a program. By suggesting to slash its funding, Obama can show that he is serious about reducing the national deficit and counter his tax-and-spend reputation.
With this in mind, it is possible that the “leaked” news of the proposed cuts was a political move on the part of the president or his inner circle, and that the proposal is not as serious as Obama may want the country to believe.
In any event, whether the proposal is even in the president’s forthcoming budget remains to be seen. If it is, the battle over its implementation will surely be an intense one.
Citgo Begins 6th Annual Heating Oil Assistance Program in Boston
Joe Kennedy of Citizens Energy kicking off the Citgo heating oil assistance program in New york City in 2010. (image: citizensenergy.com)
Citgo and Citizens Energy’s heating oil philanthropy program, in doubt just a few months ago, officially kicked off its 6th year in Boston on Thursday, according to a Citgo press release.
Since 2005 Citgo, the American branch of Venezuela’s national oil company (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. or PDVSA), in conjunction with Massachusetts non-profit Citizens Energy, has distributed hundreds of thousands of gallons of free and low-cost heating oil to needy American families and homeless shelters across the US. The program was on shaky ground in late November, when Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez proclaimed his desire to sell the company and faced serious budget shortfalls that endangered a raft of social programs proposed by Chávez. Some wondered whether a new, more profit-driven owner of Citgo might put an end to the yearly giveaway. But no buyers materialized and Citgo remains in the hands of PDVSA.
With the ownership unchanged and the eager participation of Citizens Energy, the sixth consecutive year of the program opened with a delivery to a family in need in South Boston on Thursday.
The Citgo/Citizens Energy program began in 2005 in response to an open letter from 12 US senators calling for donations from major oil companies and oil-producing countries. The senators urged the companies and nations to help needy Americans defray high energy costs brought on by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Only Venezuela and Citgo agreed to donate fuel in response. According to Citizens Energy President Joseph P. Kennedy, II (the same Joe from the Joe-4-Oil commercials), his organization makes the same appeal each year and each year receives the same response:
Every year, we ask major oil companies and oil-producing nations to help our senior citizens and the poor make it through winter, and only one company, CITGO, and one country, Venezuela, has responded to our appeals.
The program, which according to Citgo has donated over 170 million gallons of heating oil since its inception, has been criticized as political leverage for the outspokenly anti-American Chávez. President Chávez frequently points to the program as a sign of his socialist nation’s altruism in contrast to American greed and selfishness.
Heating oil users in need can find more information on the Citizens Energy website and should call 1-877-JOE-4-OIL (1-877-563-4645) to apply for assistance.
A Heartwarming Story of Heating Oil Generosity from R.I.
ABC 6 in Providence, R.I. matches heating oil donors with needy recipients. (image: abc6.com)
ABC 6 News of Providence, Rhode Island has aired a series of reports under the title “Operation Warm Home,” in which local residents can donate heating oil to a family in need.
On Thursday, the station aired the latest installment of the series, reporting on the delivery of 180 gallons of oil by HeatingOil.com approved dealer Petro. The Petro truck pumped the heating oil out of a generous donor’s home tank and later delivered it to the home of a single mother struggling to pay her bills and keep her two children warm.
Of course donations of food, money, and clothing are the most common, but in the dead of the New England winter, there isn’t a much better donation than fuel to make a cold home warm again.
Watch the full report on the heating oil donation, including interviews with the donor and recipient below.
More Heating Assistance On the Way in the Form of Increased LIHEAP Funds
(image: liheap.dpw.state.pa.us)
UPDATE:
It turns out that Maine and New Hampshire weren’t the only states to receive additional funding–a fact that was omitted from the AP report mentioned below.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency that administers LIHEAP at the federal level, announced additional funds for all LIHEAP recipients in a press release published on Wednesday. The money will be distributed to the “states, tribes and territories” that participate in the LIHEAP program. The just-announced funds bring the total granted to all LIHEAP recipients during the 2010-2011 heating season to $3.9 billion.
In comments accompanying the press release, HHS secretary Kathleen Sibelius noted that the extreme cold experienced in many parts of the country already this winter has intensified the need for LIHEAP assistance:
Much of the country has already experienced a very cold winter. Today’s additional funds will help struggling families keep safe and warm for the remainder of the season.
The original version of this story appears below:
More funding for heating assistance programs in Maine and New Hampshire are on their way from the federal government. The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that that a total of $36 million in added funds have been earmarked for the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the two states.
The rural makeup and far-north location of Maine and New Hampshire make them the home of extreme winter weather and many heating oil users (according to the Department of Energy, 80 percent of Mainers warmed their homes with heating oil in 2000). The intense cold in the two New England states makes for higher overall heating demand and greater needs for heating assistance.
Maine Senator Olympia Snowe announced that her state would receive an additional $23 million to cover LIHEAP expenses this year, and New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen said her state would receive $13 million more. Snowe has been a strong advocate for generous funding for LIHEAP in Maine, citing extreme cold that covers the state each fall and winter. Last year, she led the Maine Congressional Delegation in opposing a change to LIHEAP distribution parameters that she said unfairly favored warmer-weather states.
For the heating oil users and other residents of Maine and New Hampshire who need some financial help to keep the heat on during these coldest months of the year, the added funding comes as welcome news, as recession-related money problems continue to affect families across the country.
R.I.P. Cheap Venezuelan Heating Oil?
Would a sale of Citgo spell the end of cheap Venezuelan heating oil in America’s neediest homes? (image: telegraph.co.uk)
When does cheap heating oil become a controversial political card? When it’s in the hand of Hugo Chávez.
But his card may be played out. With the Associated Press reporting that the Venezuelan president is considering the sale of Citgo, the US arm of the national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, it appears that the deliveries of low-cost Venezuelan fuel to needy American households could be cut off, too.
The program, which partnered Citgo with Massachusetts nonprofit Citizens Energy, was first announced in 2005. It sent heating oil to co-ops on the west side of Manhattan and to tribal lands in Alaska. In 2008, the program saved about 180,000 US homes an estimated $260 each on their heating bills, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Now, politics at home are pushing Chávez to unload Citgo — and perhaps its partnership with Citizens Energy. The president has set an ambitious domestic agenda in advance of the 2012 elections, and will need some cash to follow through on his plans, according to the AP. Recent comments by President Chávez make it clear that Citgo could soon be up for grabs. “Citgo is a bad business, and we haven’t been able to get out of it,” he said in October.
What’s the price tag? The president wants $10 billion minimum. Outside estimates say he might get half that.
It’s unclear if a Citgo sale would end the assistance to the northern states. Though when the Senate petitioned the nation’s major oil companies to provide low-income homes with heating oil in 2005, Citgo was the only company to respond. A phone call to Citizens Energy was not immediately returned Tuesday.
This isn’t the first time the heating oil program is in peril. Chávez said he would kill the shipments in January 2009, then quickly reversed himself under sharp criticism. This July, he threatened to stop sending oil to the “Yankee empire” over an ongoing diplomatic conflict with Colombia.
Humanitarians praise Chávez for his heating oil philanthropy. Critics are skeptical of his motives. Is the cheap heating oil an attack on capitalism? Political grandstanding? Chávez has done little to allay these concerns.
“We have a strong oil card to play on the geopolitical stage,” he said while announcing the program five years ago, Forbes reported. “It is a card that we are going to play with toughness against the toughest country in the world, the United States.”
NJ Non-Profit Offers Heating Oil Assistance to Middle-Income Residents
(image: njshares.org)
Many families around the nation rely on government assistance to pay their heating oil bills each winter. The federal program that provides that assistance, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), generally works well but struggles more and more each year to meet the huge demand from needy families. To fill the assistance gap, local, state, and national charities step up with private funds to help those in need stay warm during the cold season. An important service many of these generous organizations provide is giving financial assistance to people in need of help who don’t qualify for HEAP funds because of their income (visit the HEAP website to see requirements for each state).
One New Jersey organization focuses on helping just those types of families and individuals. NJ Shares is a non-profit that provides grants to help middle-income families ineligible for HEAP funds pay their heating oil and other utility bills. It does so by working with dozens of government officials and local charities throughout New Jersey. The group’s focus is on New Jersey residents in the midst of a financial crisis that need temporary help.
Writing on the news site Daily Record.com on Tuesday, New Jersey AARP president Sy Larson reminded residents that NJ Shares can help those in danger of losing heat in the coming fall and winter.
If you are a New Jersey resident who may need help from NJ Shares in the next few months, you can apply for assistance by calling 1-866-NJSHARES or by visiting the organization’s Where to Apply page.
Others who may not need assistance by are interested in supporting this worthy organization can donate at the How You can Help page.
Police in Rural England Begin “Tagging” Heating Oil to Prevent Theft
The idyllic farmhouses of Hampshire County, Egland are prime targets for heating oil theives. (image: holiday-cottages-rentals.com)
Heating oil theft is not a very common occurrence, but it does happen. Tough economic times have driven increasing numbers of desperate thieves to victimize unsuspecting homeowners in recent years draining their heating oil tanks. Such thefts usually occur in rural areas, where shady characters operating a truck or oil pump are more likely to go unnoticed, and the vast majority of the thefts take place in the UK.
In an attempt to reduce heating oil thefts this coming heating season, authorities in Hampshire County, England will soon provide free bottles of a heating oil additive that will “chemically tag” rural residents’ heating oil, the BBC reported on Sunday. The tagging will link the heating oil to its original owner so it can be returned in the event of recovery. The unusual initiative is a reaction to the quadrupling of heating oil thefts in Hampshire last winter.
Ruth Harper-Adams, a local farm advocate in Hampshire’s Test Valley region noted the negative effects of heating oil theft on rural communities:
Fuel theft from farmyards not only has a costly impact, it also creates other huge implications, such as delays in farming operations. It may also create an environmental problem where tank damage is a consequence.
The effectiveness of the tagging systems of course relies on the thieves eventually being caught and the stolen oil recovered, but in an area where heating oil theft is such a serious problem, it seems that almost any preventative measure is worth trying.
South Carolina Program Could Be Model for Distributing Heating Assistance
A program in South Carolina offers a new way to help families apply for benefits like LIHEAP. (image: liheap.dpw.state.pa.us)
Heating assistance programs face a number of well-known problems. In some states they lack the resources to help all those in need; in New Jersey, a slew of recent indictments has revealed that funds for the state’s Home Energy Assistance program have been siphoned off by corrupt local administrators. Yet one of the most vexing problems facing heating assistance programs, like other federal and state benefits programs, is that funds often go unused even though people are in need.
In New York State, over 1 million eligible households did not apply for heating assistance in 2008, leaving funds set aside specifically for heating assistance unused. Applying for assistance can be difficult and time-consuming, deterring people from applying, and often people are unaware that they are eligible for benefits. Now South Carolina is initiating a new program for distributing state and federal benefits like food stamps and health insurance by using an online service called The Benefit Bank, reports IndependentMail.com. South Carolina plans to expand the service to include heating assistance, and other states already use The Benefit Bank to administer the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
IndependentMail.com tells the story of Anderson Interfaith Ministries, which recently became a site for The Benefit Bank of South Carolina and is already helping local families. By becoming a Benefit Bank site, Anderson Interfaith Ministries gives residents another location to apply for benefits—instead of having to go to one local government office—and also makes available counselors to help families apply for benefits. Families fill out just one application—not several—and the counselors use the Benefit Bank’s online service to determine if they qualify for Medicaid, food stamps, or federal student aid, and soon may be able to determine if they qualify for heating assistance.
Lorin Larason of Anderson Interfaith Ministries talked to IndependentMail.com about the agency’s goals in working with Benefit Bank:
“We want to be a one-stop shop,” Larason said. “You fill out one application and it works for a lot of programs.”
Eight states currently work with the Benefit Bank, meaning that most people in the US can’t take advantage of its services. But if The Benefit Bank continues to have the success and the promise that IndependentMail.com says it’s having in Anderson, SC, then The Benefit Bank—or programs like it—may soon be able to help more residents get the assistance, including heating assistance, that they need.
Another Indictment for Heating Assistance Fraud in New Jersey
Attorney General Paula Dow (center) and Criminal Justice Director Stephen Taylor (left) have indicted another heating assistance administrator for fraud. (image: nj.com)
In what’s becoming a familiar story, a local administrator of New Jersey’s Home Energy Assistance (HEA) program has been indicted for filing fraudulent applications to get benefits for herself and others. Denise Johnson was indicted on Wednesday, reported NewJerseyNewsroom.com, and follows in the footsteps of fellow HEA administrators Nicole Victor (indicted in May) and Constance Campbell (sentenced to five years in prison on July 19).
In a statement released by the Office of the Attorney General, New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow said the latest indictment is the result of a lengthy investigation into corruption in the energy assistance program:
“This is the fourth case that we have filed in the last twelve months as a result of our ongoing investigations into fraud against the New Jersey Home Energy Assistance Program,” said Attorney General Dow. “By vigorously investigating and prosecuting these cases, we are working to prevent misappropriation of taxpayer dollars and ensure that program funds are used to heat the homes of vulnerable residents who are rightful beneficiaries of the program.”
The fourth case that Dow mentioned was that of Thomas Harris, a fuel supplier involved in the frauds perpetrated or allegedly perpetrated by the three HEA administrators. As the sole proprietor of Harris Fuel Oil, Harris offered cash for heating assistance checks instead of fuel. Harris would pay out in cash less than the value of the assistance checks, and has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding the state of nearly $400,000.
Johnson allegedly stole $22,905 in assistance funds for her own benefit, and assisted her boyfriend, Anthony Lamont Taylor, and her half-brother, Vincent Lipsey, in filing false applications and receiving $2,648 each in program funds.
The latest indictment may not be the last. According to State Criminal Justice Director Stephen Taylor, investigations are still in progress:
Through the exemplary work of our investigators and attorneys, we are continuing to follow the evidence and build strong cases charging fraud against this program.
As New Jersey continues to investigate fraud within the HEA program, low-income New Jersey residents stand to benefit as more of the program’s funds go to their rightful recipients.
