A government shutdown is holding up the allocation of vital funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a lesser-known initiative offering financial aid for heating and cooling expenses to households nationwide. This delay could result in millions of people struggling to heat their residences as winter approaches.
Billions of dollars are earmarked in the federal budget to assist low-income Americans who would otherwise face difficulties covering their energy costs. However, with the ongoing political impasse, specialists warn that local agencies managing the program may be unable to provide timely bill payment assistance to families as colder weather sets in over the next few weeks.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services announced that they will be postponing the start of its LIHEAP program, normally scheduled for November 3, by one month due to the shutdown. The state’s yearly winter utility shutoff ban, which protects low-income residents from power disconnections during the coldest periods, is not slated to commence until December 1.
Elizabeth Marx, executive director of the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project, noted that this postponement will severely impact numerous residents who have already experienced bill hikes ranging from 5% to 40% this year. She added that more Pennsylvanians are encountering energy disconnections compared to prior years. Concurrently, New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently stated that her state’s program is not expected to launch before mid-November.
“Between January and August this year, more than 280,000 Pennsylvanians experienced involuntary service disconnections for their gas, electricity, and water at home, marking an approximate 15% increase compared to the previous year,” Marx reported.
These delays in LIHEAP disbursements coincide with a national trend of escalating energy expenses. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) projects that electricity and natural gas prices will climb at double the inflation rate this winter, with home heating costs anticipated to rise by roughly 7.6% on average over last year. This surge follows 2025 already being a significant year for utility rate hikes, further compounded by the rapid growth of new data centers which are also contributing to higher demands.
Uma Outka, a professor specializing in energy and environmental law at the University of Kansas, commented, “The escalating requests for rate increases by utilities at the state level pose a threat of higher residential prices, and energy insecurity along with the risk of utility disconnections is set to intensify for low-income households.”
Marx noted that these issues disproportionately affect lower-income households, who sometimes allocate up to 30% of their earnings toward energy expenses.
A continuing resolution, which would grant interim funding to specific sectors, could be approved by Congress. However, according to Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA, even if these funds receive approval, they would not be distributed until December at the earliest, a timeline that poses critical challenges in certain regions of the U.S.
Wolfe explained, “It typically requires a minimum of four to six weeks for the funds to be disbursed. State plans need official approval, the allocation formula must be applied, and states must be notified of their respective funding amounts. This entire process is time-consuming.”
Furthermore, the Trump Administration eliminated the entire LIHEAP staff within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this year, implying that once funding is released, its distribution to states will be more protracted than typical.
“Without that central authority, who will advocate for the correct formula implementation? Who will push for the release of these funds?” Wolfe questioned. “Practically speaking, those individuals were crucial in ensuring timely operations, and they are no longer there.”
Despite Trump’s proposal to cut the program’s funding, both the House and Senate appropriation bills allocated approximately the same funding level for LIHEAP as the previous year. Nevertheless, administrators will be challenged to manage with fewer resources.
Wolfe argued, “Receiving the same funding amount as last year still constitutes a reduction. The program’s purchasing power is diminishing, and elevated electricity expenses are burdening families.” Essentially, the monetary value no longer stretches as it did previously.
A few states can continue operations by utilizing remaining funds from the previous year’s budget. In Massachusetts, for example, LIHEAP will limit its assistance to emergency situations, such as when a household faces a service termination notice or possesses less than a three-day supply of deliverable heating fuels.
Joe Diamond, executive director of MASSCAP, an organization that links Massachusetts residents with local LIHEAP administrators, warned that the absence of LIHEAP funds would probably impact all households. He stated to TIME that “The program generally contributes to lowering energy prices for everyone, and should bills remain unpaid because of LIHEAP delays, there is a potential for a general price increase.”
Marx mentioned that in Pennsylvania, local programs typically start gathering information from prospective LIHEAP enrollees in September or October, and they are currently behind schedule. She commented, “We have proceeded as if everything would resolve itself, and we maintain hope that it will. However, at this juncture, I must also be forthright with the community that, short of an almost immediate reversal of circumstances, the program will not commence on schedule.”
Given these delays, NEADA is urging utility providers to temporarily halt service disconnections for households unable to pay their bills until federal LIHEAP funds become available.
Until that time, the repercussions of these delays will be keenly experienced. Marx asserted, “Many individuals will be without heat in November, and lacking heat in Pennsylvania during November poses significant dangers. We anticipate severe health and safety consequences for people not only in Pennsylvania but also in cold weather states nationwide. This presents a serious issue.”