New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
By Colin A. Young
State House News Service
With more people out of work this winter because of the pandemic, the demand for federal home heating aid is projected to grow nearly 20 percent and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey is calling for an infusion of $10 billion to wipe away pandemic-related utility debt and to keep people warm this winter.
As winter weather descends on New England and other northern parts of the country, Markey said Tuesday that the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will need more money, and called on other states to follow Massachusetts’ lead in banning utility shutoffs until the spring.
“We are teetering on the edge of a financial cliff that is forcing already vulnerable households to make the impossible decisions of either putting food on the table, covering rent or keeping the heat on through the cold winter months,” the senator said, adding that 1.3 million American households now have an average of $5,400 in rent and utility bill debt.
Markey said that 26 million American households, including 160,000 in Massachusetts, qualified for LIHEAP before the COVID-19 pandemic and that experts expect five million more households nationwide will qualify this winter as a result of the pandemic. That would mean about 190,000 Massachusetts households could seek federal help this winter.
“This week in Massachusetts, temperatures are expected to dip into the mid-20s and we all know that when temperatures drop heating bills begin to pile up for many families in the commonwealth,” he said.
Markey said an infusion of $10 billion for LIHEAP would help seven million families eliminate utility bill debt and provide a “safety blanket” during the winter.
Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, said LIHEAP’s typical funding level is not enough to meet the demand for home heating assistance that his organization expects this winter.
“We’re facing conditions you’d not be surprised to see in a Charles Dickens novel, to be honest,” he said. “Families are falling behind in the rent, you’re seeing long food lines, for the first time in years middle-class families can’t pay their utility bills. These families don’t even know where to go for help, they’re not used to asking for help, they’re used to paying their own way. We think there’s an extra seven or eight million households that were formerly middle class, for all purposes, that have lost their jobs and that need help.”
Wolf said the $10 billion investment in LIHEAP will help ensure that families do not end up with $3,000 or $4,000 in utility bill debt by the time the worst of the pandemic passes.
“They’ll never get back on their feet,” he said.
In Massachusetts, the Legislature and administration have often supplemented the federal LIHEAP funding with state dollars amid a steady decrease in federal support over recent years. Federal aid to Massachusetts for the LIHEAP program decreased by $15 million between 2017 and 2021, Markey said, despite overall program funding increasing by nearly $350 million.
“That’s because the federal Department of Health and Human Services is using outdated energy price information to determine LIHEAP allocations. They are currently using data that is years out of date for fuel costs and weather projections, instead of up-to-date information, in determining how to distribute LIHEAP funds to the states that need it,” the senator said. “As a result, some of the LIHEAP money that gets awarded to states like Massachusetts is divorced from the reality of what families will spend this winter to heat their homes.”
Markey also reiterated a call he made in March for states and utilities to impose or extend moratoria on gas and electric service disconnections, late fees, reconnection fees, rate hikes, and more.
For residential customers in Massachusetts who receive electric or gas service from an investor-owned utility, such a moratorium is in place until April 1. For residential customers who get electric or gas service through a municipal utility, the attorney general’s office says “most municipal utilities” have also agreed to suspend shut-offs until April 1. The Massachusetts moratorium on commercial shut-offs ended Aug. 31.
“Our commonwealth can serve as an example to the rest of the nation as we enter the long winter months, but no one anywhere should be left to fall sick because they’re falling behind,” Markey said.
