Pennsylvania LIHEAP Closure Draws Opposition

A controversy has arisen in Pennsylvania over the decision of the LIHEAP office, the Department of Public Welfare (DPW), to close its LIHEAP program March 21. Opponents of the closure cited the fact that the state still has around $13 million in LIHEAP funds and said the closure will harm thousands of households still needing help paying heating bills.

Officials in Philadelphia this week urged Gov. Ed Rendell to reconsider and extend LIHEAP, which several other states have done, including New York, New Jersey and Ohio. They said an estimated 62,000 Pennsylvania households, including about 37,000 in Philadelphia, are affected by the closure.

The DPW and the Governor’s office said the money is needed for start-up of the next heating season, given uncertainties over how much funding will be allocated for FY 2009 and when it will be made available. The LIHEAP statute allows states to carry over 10 percent of their LIHEAP funds each fiscal year to the following year. 

Utility groups such as the Energy Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Gas Association (PGA) also opposed the closure. The PGA said the closure is the state’s earliest in recent years and it came just before the expiration of the state’s moratorium on utility disconnections March 31.

PGA said that nearly half of the states provide LIHEAP assistance year round and another 22 states close their LIHEAP programs at the end of  April or later, which is confirmed by LIHEAP Clearinghouse tables. PGA also noted that the state’s LIHEAP state plan had projected providing 540,000 LIHEAP grants; yet, when the program ended only 478,000 grants had been awarded.

Page Last Updated: September 24, 2009