Oberstar Announces Energy Assistance Funds for Minnesota

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Washington DC – Minnesota seniors and low-income families will receive additional assistance to help pay their heating bills. Congressman Jim Oberstar announced today that Minnesota will receive nearly $20 million in emergency funding for heating assistance programs. The funding is Minnesota’s share of a $450 million disbursement of emergency funding from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

“Skyrocketing crude oil prices are driving the cost of heating oil and natural gas to an all-time high. We need to act quickly to make sure that seniors and low-income families can get the help they need,” said Oberstar.

Oberstar has worked for an increase in LIHEAP funding in his role as the chair of the Northeast Midwest Coalition, a bipartisan group of lawmakers who are concerned about legislative issues that impact the northeast and midwest states. The coalition’s efforts led to an increase in the emergency LIHEAP account in the current budget

Between 2003 and 2007, the number of households receiving LIHEAP assistance increased by 26 percent from 4.6 million to about 5.8 million or about 15.6 percent of the eligible population. During this same period, the federal appropriation increased by only 10 percent with the resulting average grant declining from $349 to $305.

The Energy Information Administration estimates that households can expect to pay between 10 to 22 percent more for heating fuels than during the 2006-2007 winter, and many of these families are carrying energy debt from previous years.

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