Amo Celebrates Securing Release of $24 Million in Federal Energy Bill Assistance for Rhode Islanders

About 26,000 Rhode Island households rely on the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to heat their homes

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Gabe Amo (RI-01) announced Rhode Island was awarded $24,063,792 in funding for LIHEAP administered through the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Community Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This funding will help individuals and families with low incomes pay their home heating costs this winter, and with cooling bills in the summer. LIHEAP funds can also be used to weatherize homes to make them more energy efficient, and during disasters and extreme weather to mitigate energy emergencies.

 

“Thanks to our advocacy, thousands of families throughout Rhode Island and our country will have federal assistance to lower costs for their energy bills this winter,” said Congressman Gabe Amo. “This energy assistance program is an essential lifeline and I’m glad that Secretary Xavier Becerra heeded our calls and swiftly disbursed this critical aid.”

 

Yesterday, Congressman Amo joined Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) and 14 of their colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, urging him to release the highest possible amount of federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding available under the continuing resolution signed into law last month.

 

“With the winter months rapidly approaching, releasing the highest amount of funding from the recent government funding package is critically needed to address the growing number of households unable to pay their energy bills,” said the letter sent by lawmakers. “To prevent a lapse in eligible families’ ability to afford their home energy bills this fall, we urge you to immediately release the highest possible amount of LIHEAP funding made available by the Continuing Resolution.”

 

BACKGROUND

LIHEAP is a critical program for more than five million households across the country — and about 26,000 households in Rhode Island — that relied on federal assistance to afford their heating bills in Fiscal Year 2023. As temperatures continue to drop, it is essential that the Department of Health and Human Services release the highest possible amount of funding available to ensure that seniors and working-class families don’t go cold at night.

 

Today’s funding release is approximately $3.7 Billion of federal Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) regular block grant funding to LIHEAP grant recipients. This funding provided under the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, includes over $100 Million for FY25. One hundred million of these funds became available through President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Appropriations Act (IIJA), and the remaining $108,197 became available from unobligated FY23 IIJA funds that were returned to HHS for redistribution.

 

Rhode Islanders can learn more about LIHEAP assistance at the Rhode Island Department of Human Services website, by contacting their local Community Action Program Agency, or the National Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) hotline toll-free at: 1-866-674-6327. Households can also easily identify possible eligibility for assistance by using the LIHEAP Eligibility Tool on energyhelp.us.

 

FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER

Dear Secretary Becerra:

 

We write to urge the immediate release of the highest possible amount of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding available under the September 2024 Continuing Resolution (PL 118-83).

 

As you well know, LIHEAP helps households unable to afford to heat their homes in the winter and cool their homes in the summer, providing assistance to at-risk seniors and families. In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), more than five million households across the country relied on critical heating assistance from the LIHEAP program. For LIHEAP recipients, this funding is a lifeline, helping prevent them from having to make an impossible choice between staying warm and putting food on the table or affording their medications.

 

With the winter months rapidly approaching, releasing the highest amount of funding from the recent government funding package is critically needed to address the growing number of households unable to pay their energy bills. Continued escalation in the Middle East and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine have increased uncertainty in the energy market and raised concerns about potential spikes in energy prices. These shifts disproportionately harm those who already struggle to heat their homes and underscore the need for robust funding for LIHEAP. Historically, LIHEAP has been an underfunded and oversubscribed program. This remained true in FY23, with only around 15 percent of qualifying households nationwide receiving heating assistance through the program.

 

To prevent a lapse in eligible families’ ability to afford their home energy bills this fall, we urge you to immediately release the highest possible amount of LIHEAP funding made available by the Continuing Resolution. It is vital to ensure our seniors and low-income families are provided sufficient resources as temperatures cool in the months ahead.

 

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to working with you further on this crucial program.

 

Sincerely,