![]() We need a national solution that caps home energy costs at an affordable level, prevents shutoffs, and provides basic energy efficiency for all low-income households.Īnd while there will be a cost to providing affordable home energy for low income families, wouldn’t that be better than the current system that forces families to choose between food, medicine, and energy? The current piecemeal approach of state-level efforts, limited energy efficiency resources, and a chronically underfunded federal bill assistance program will never be enough to make energy affordable for all Americans. North Carolina’s Medicaid expansion comes with inconvenient truthsĮnergy poverty can be eliminated in the United States. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), would provide a $40 billion annual appropriation for LIHEAP to help families pay their heating and cooling bills, provide a cap on total income of 3 percent and pay for comprehensive installation of energy efficiency measures to lower the overall amount of energy used by households.įDA needs to protect vulnerable newborns from aluminum toxicity The Heating and Cooling Relief Act, reintroduced this year in Congress by Sen. ![]() But the solution is not to provide a checkerboard of programs where consumers are protected in some states but not in others, but rather a national program that provides a clear measure of affordability across the country. The program would set a ceiling of 6 percent of a family’s income for electric bills and help them increase the efficiency of their home by adding insulation and upgrading to energy-efficient electric appliances. New York State recently announced a new Energy Affordability Program that would cap energy costs for families. Help must be provided to families to increase the energy efficiency of their homes to reduce their overall usage, which would lower energy bills and protect families from price spikes due to rising energy prices and extreme weather conditions. However, there are solutions to ending this national disgrace and beginning to view access to affordable energy as a basic right. ![]() And for those using delivered fuels - heating oil and propane - dealers simply won’t deliver more fuel unless they receive payment up-front.Īt first glance, energy poverty appears to be an intractable problem. An estimated 4.2 million households were disconnected in the first 10 months of 2022, an increase of 29 percent in electric and 76 percent in natural gas connections as compared to the same period in 2021. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse Survey reported that nearly 47 percent of families earning less than $50,000 reduced their spending on food or medicine at least once in the last year to pay their home energy bills, up from 46.6 percent the previous year.Īnd when those drastic measures are not enough, families face disconnection of utility services. When families cannot afford the cost of home energy, they take drastic measures to stay connected to the energy grid. Nearly 20.8 million households owe on average $791, up slightly from June 2022 when the total amount owed stood at about $16.3 billion and the average amount owed was about $783. The national total amount of money families are behind on their electric and gas bills is about $16.6 billion almost double the level prior to the beginning of the pandemic. As energy prices increase, families fall further behind on their utility bills. We all need energy for our homes, but price fluctuations can make energy unaffordable for many. The way we pay for residential energy in this country is failing our most vulnerable families. These numbers don’t even account for possible increases in applications this summer to help families pay for air-conditioning as they deal with rising temperatures due to climate change. With higher energy prices this winter, it comes as no surprise that applications for energy assistance have risen to their highest level since 2009. However, LIHEAP funding is only sufficient to reach less than one out of five eligible households. In 2023, Congress provided about $6.1 billion to help about 6 million families pay to heat and cool their homes. ![]() Low-income families can get help from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which is the primary federal program to help families pay their heating and cooling bills.
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