HHS Releases $100 Million in Emergency Energy Assistance

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced December 23 that $100 million in emergency funds will be immediately provided to states, territories and tribes from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help low-income families pay their heating bills.

The funds will provide states with extra assistance, over and above $1.2 billion sent to states last October, to help with winter heating costs.

The $100 million uses one-third of the contingency funds made available by the FY 2005 omnibus appropriations bill. The remaining $200 million in contingency funds will be reserved for future heating or cooling emergencies. In addition to the contingency funds, the remaining $65 million in first-quarter grants also made available by the omnibus bill will be released to states, territories and tribes.

An Excel file of contingency funds provides the gross and net state amounts and the tribal amounts in a separate worksheet.

A table showing FY 2005 LIHEAP allocations (including the $100 million emergency allocation) with comparisons to total FY 2004 and FY 2003 funding is available at http://www.ncaf.org/lhp063.pdf.

Source: Administration for Families and Children (ACF) Press Office

Page Last Updated: December 7, 2005