Tag Archives: liheap

So, one my favorite events at AGA is the annual LIHEAP Action Day event. LIHEAP stands for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. LIHEAP is a federally funded energy assistance program designed to help low-income households cope with the financial burdens of heating and cooling their homes. Last year’s program helped about 8.9 millions households but there’s great concern that those numbers will fall if any cuts come to the program.

That’s a real possibility this year.

To make sure that policy makers are aware of the importance of LIHEAP, AGA works with the National Fuel Funds Network (NFFN) to put on LIHEAP Action Day. People fly-in from all across the country, taking time out of their busy schedules, to go to the Hill in mass to speak with policy makers about LIHEAP in their areas. Before these people go to the Hill, we have a short program giving them the latest statistics on LIHEAP.

George Coling, the Executive Director of the NFFN, opened the program and handed it off to our new president and CEO Dave McCurdy. Dave gave some great information and background on LIHEAP before turning it over to Nick Stavropoulos of National Grid.

Nick briefly reiterated the statistical side of the importance of LIHEAP. More people needing help. The poverty rate rising from 13 percent to 14 percent in the last year. That although LIHEAP helped 8.9 million households, or approximately 23 million people, the money available was only enough to help 1 in 5 eligible Americans.

The thing about LIHEAP though is, while the numbers are important, it’s the people that really matter. The personal stories. Nick shared his.

He spoke about being a little league coach in his youth. What a great experience it was. How much he got out of it and gave to it. He mentioned coaching Rumeal Robinson…I’m actually old enough to remember that Michigan team. He said Matt Damon was a great kid, a good shortstop and his mom was at every game. And then he mentioned James.

James was a kid they coached for a few years and left the team around 12. He was from an unstable, low-income family that was having trouble making ends meet. After he left the team, they would see him around the neighborhood and try to talk to him about the choices he was making to help his family make money to make those ends meet. The story ended sadly, as you might suspect, with James, a young kid of 15, dying in activities he shouldn’t have been involved trying to earn a buck to keep the heat on and food on the table.

Nick said those are the types of stories he thinks about when he goes to people to ask for help with these types of programs and he urged people talking to policy makers to remember their own James as they make the hard ask today to ensure that LIHEAP is fully funded at $5.1 billion.

There’s going to be alot of stuff going on around LIHEAP today. I’ll post a couple pictures from this morning but will do some more later on the media event, etc. For now, take a look at this LIHEAP fact sheet.

As we continue to experience record high temperatures throughout the country, it couldn’t be a better time than now to help bring attention to the critical need for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding. On July 28, along with the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and National Fuel Funds Network (NFFN), we hosted a Summer LIHEAP Action Day to build awareness about this valuable program that saves lives every year.

The purpose of the event was to bring together LIHEAP advocates and recipients from across the county to help convince Congress to fully fund LIHEAP at $5.1 billion for FY11 and encourage an increase to $7.6 billion as outlined in Rep. Ed Markey’s (D-MA) Energy Assistance for American Families Act. President Obama proposed LIHEAP funding for FY11 at a level of $3.3 billion, down from $5.1 billion in FY10 and FY09.

We also called on Congress to release the remaining 2010 LIHEAP contingency resources–$100 million—to help vulnerable Americans who cannot afford to cool their homes during these blazing summer months.

Throughout the day there were various activities, and one of the most exciting events was the press conference we hosted on Capitol Hill where we were fortunate to be joined by Congressman Gene Green and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Both from Texas, they certainly understand how high the mercury can rise, and how dangerous high temperatures can be for those without energy assistance. We were happy to have them with us to echo our calls for LIHEAP funding—for both heating and cooling.

You can see some of the photos of the press conference at the end of this post. You can see more photos from the day’s events on our Flickr stream.

Another highlight of Summer LIHEAP Action Day was when Dave Parker and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass) were presented with awards from NFFN. Dave Parker was awarded the Sister Pat Kelly Achievement Award, NFFN’s highest energy assistance recognition award. This award is given to individuals who have demonstrated superior achievements in goals set by NFFN: increasing public awareness and understanding of low-income energy issues; influencing energy-related policies beneficial to low-income people; assisting in the creation and development of fuel funds; promoting communication and coordination among parties concerned with low-income energy issues on national, regional, and statewide levels. Rep. Markey (D-Mass) was presented with The Extra Mile Award, which recognizes legislative achievement on behalf of LIHEAP.

Here are photos of Dave and Rep. Markey receiving these prestigious awards.

Rep. Markey (D-Mass) with The Extra Mile Award, which recognizes legislative achievement on behalf of LIHEAP. Dave Parker with the Sister Pat Kelly Achievement Award, NFFN’s highest energy assistance recognition award.

While the cold winter months seem distant as we read the temperatures these days, our next LIHEAP Action Day will be here before we know it. Make sure to mark your calendar for February 9, 2011 so you can join us in the nation’s capital as we continue to make sure LIHEAP funding is available for those who need it most.

And don’t forget to post your thoughts about LIHEAP below in the comments—we always like to hear how this great program is helping folks throughout the nation.

Its summer, it’s hot and it’s a perfect time to raise awareness of the need for full funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP was created by Congress to help our nation’s low-income households stay warm during the winter and cool in the summer. In a depressed economy, many low-income citizens cannot afford to heat and cool their homes because of financial woes.

LIHEAP is a block grant program under which the federal government gives states annual grants to operate home energy assistance programs for low-income households, and these funds go directly to those who need it most. Every year, Congress must appropriate funds for LIHEAP, and for the past two years, Congress has funded LIHEAP at the fully authorized level of $5.1 billion. Even with funding at $5.1 billion, only 1 in 5 eligible low-income households are served by the program. In February, the Obama administration released the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget for government spending, which recommended a total of only $3.3 billion for the FY 2011 LIHEAP.  With the need for LIHEAP at a record high, the administration’s proposed reduction in LIHEAP funding is disappointing.

AGA is actively lobbying Congress to appropriate at least $5.1 billion in FY 2011 for LIHEAP. But with a very tight budget, we need to convince Congress to fully fund this important program. That is why AGA, along with our utility members and other organizations are getting together on Wednesday, July 28^th for Summer LIHEAP Action Day. During this event, we will travel to Capitol Hill to meet with Members of Congress and lobby for full funding of LIHEAP.

I hope you are able to join us as this event is bound to be a great one—you will hear from key Congressional members regarding legislative updates and the latest information about the LIHEAP funding issue. For more details, please visit the Summer LIHEAP Action Day web site. Or click here to register online.