Letter to Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Boehner, Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis
Letter
Kuhl Urges Leadership to Increase Funding for LIHEAP, Weatherization Assistance Program
U.S. Representative John R. "Randy" Kuhl, Jr. (R-Hammondsport) today sent a letter to House Leadership and the House Committee on Appropriations to ask for their support in providing $5.1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in any Continuing Resolution that may be considered.
"Home heating costs in the Northeast for this winter will reach record levels and cause severe hardships for low and moderate income households. LIHEAP has provided millions of families and seniors over the years with the funding needed to heat their home and survive another winter. But with the escalating cost of energy, many people are going to be left out in the cold," said Rep. Kuhl. "Congress is expected to take up a Continuing Resolution in the coming days and it must include additional funding for LIHEAP."
The letter, which was sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader John Boehner, Appropriations Chairman David Obey and Appropriations Ranking Member Jerry Lewis, urges that $5.1 billion be included in a Continuing Resolution. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA), representing the state directors of LIHEAP, announced this year that the number of households receiving LIHEAP funds is the highest in 16 years. An estimated 5.8 million households received energy assistance in FY 2008, an increase of 3.8 percent over FY 2007. Seventeen states plus the District of Columbia reported increases of more than four percent and eight states reported increases of more than nine percent. In addition, the number of families falling behind on their utility bills is reaching record levels. Prices for this winter are expected to increase by 16.8% on average from $986 to $1,152 and 69.2% since the winter heating season of 2002-03. Prices for heating oil are projected to increase by 30.2% from $1,939 to $2,524, natural gas from $855 to $1,017, propane from $1,673 to $1,890 and electricity from $858 to $944.
In addition, Congressman Kuhl sent another letter to Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Boehner, Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis urging them to provide $250 million in additional funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in any potential economic stimulus legislation. WAP has long been among this nation's most efficient programs for providing low-income families assistance to help lower their energy costs in the winter. Investing $250 million in WAP will result in an additional 100,000 low-income retirees and working families participating in this valuable program. Over the past 20 years, nearly 6 million homes have been weatherized resulting in an average of a 20 to 30 percent drop in annual home heating bills.
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Text of LIHEAP letter:
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Boehner, Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis:
Thank you for your efforts to provide increased funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) this year. In addition to pursuing funds through the second stimulus supplemental, we urge you to include $5.1 billion for LIHEAP in any Continuing Resolution that may be considered.
The explosion in home energy costs requires immediate action to provide emergency funding as quickly as possible to help citizens across the nation cope with the record shut offs and arrears lingering from last winter and this summer and to prepare for the cold winter ahead. The need for additional LIHEAP money is without question. In both warm weather states and cold weather states, full LIHEAP funding will help avert deadly crises. Record-high temperatures have resulted in several deaths in California, Texas, and Oklahoma this summer. In Dallas, temperatures exceeded 100 degrees for nearly two weeks straight. And let us not forget the hardship many of these same families are dealing with following the recent hurricane.
In cold weather states, energy officials are concerned that high heating prices will create a humanitarian crisis as millions of families go cold because they can't afford to pay their utility bill. With heating oil prices projected to exceed $4.60 per-gallon, the cost to heat a home could be as much as $4,000 this winter. To deal with high prices, many families resort to unsafe heating methods, forgo lifesaving prescription medicine, or skip meals.
In both warm weather states and cold weather states, utility shutoffs have increased due to the struggling economy and record-high energy costs. In Arizona, the amount of households behind on their bills is up 36 percent from last year, and the number of disconnections in Phoenix alone has increased by 11,000 families from last year. In Pennsylvania, more than 650,000 households are in arrears, up from less than 500,000 last year. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) estimates that more than 15.6 million households could face utility shutoffs because they can not pay their energy bill.
One answer to this problem is increased funding for LIHEAP. At the current funding level, LIHEAP serves only 15 percent of eligible families. With costs expected to be much higher in the coming year, far fewer families will be served if additional funds are not provided. $5.1 billion will double the Fiscal Year 2008 appropriation for LIHEAP and extend this vital lifeline to more low-income families and seniors.
Another action that Congress should take is increasing funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program. This money can be spent in advance of the coming winter and make energy bills lower not only this year, but for years to come. According to the National Association for State Community Services Programs, first year energy savings for households weatherized in 2008 will be more than $413. Less burdened by record-high energy bills, these families will have more money to spend on other essentials. Furthermore, the efficiencies produced by weatherizing a home pay for themselves quickly by creating jobs, reducing overall energy consumption, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Thanks to your leadership, the House has shown bipartisan support for LIHEAP and Weatherization, and we thank you both for your commitment to helping low-income families. We urge you to continue to do everything possible to ensure that emergency funds are provided for LIHEAP and Weatherization.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
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Text of WAP letter:
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Boehner, Chairman Obey and Ranking Member Lewis:
We strongly believe that funding for the Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program belongs in the economic stimulus package you will be developing soon. We urge you to provide $250 million for this effective response to both high consumer bills and the slowdown in the homebuilding industry.
Certainly, increases in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program are essential to stem the flood of unaffordable bills that is overwhelming vulnerable consumers. However, the durable investments by the Weatherization program are a long-term solution for reviving and "greening" the home-building industry while shoring up low-income family purchasing power.
With $250 million invested in the Weatherization Assistance Program, Local Weatherization agencies will put home improvement contractors back to work. First, the programs will train them to use the sophisticated diagnostic tools pioneered by this federal program and its state-of-the-art retrofit materials and techniques. Then, these workers will be put to work reducing the program backlog of thousands of older, inefficient homes now waiting for the improvements their residents cannot make on their own.
Local Weatherizers will purchase and install tens thousands of new high-efficiency heating systems and refrigerators. They will re-stock and expand their inventory of infrared scanners, blower-door instruments, and other highly technical tools invented and produced around the nation.
As a result, an additional 100,000 very low-income retirees and working families will see their bills drop by 20%-30% every year for decades. This year, residents of the 5.8 million homes already weatherized over the last 20 years have, on average, avoided more than $415 in bills they otherwise would have been charged. The savings are far higher for those using costly fuel oil and propane. Furthermore, each home weatherized will reduce its Carbon Dioxide emissions an average of 36 metric tons over the next 20 years.
We believe that adding this relatively small initiative to the stimulus package will ensure a well-targeted and cost-effective boost to our worst-hit industry, while revitalizing this long-underfunded federal tool for making an immediate, and also enduring, reductions in consumer energy bills.
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