PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A federally funded program through the Maine Housing Authority used to supplement the high cost of heating is running out of money for this year.
Aroostook County Action Program is trying to get as many applications processed as possible for the federally funded Home Energy Assistance Program, said Josh McAtee, ACAP Energy and Housing Coordinator. ACAP will no longer take applications for home energy assistance after March 1.
Home energy assistance has run out of funds due to a flood of new households using the home energy assistance for the 2024 season. More than 75 percent of available home energy assistance from a pool of $40 million has been committed for 2024, according to ACAP officials.
“If you are on a fixed income, you are in a very difficult situation right now,” McAtee said.
Last year, around $57 million in total funding was allocated to the home energy assistance program. Around $5 million is left in home energy assistance allocated to ACAP for 2024 as of Feb. 2 to cover the over 1,200 appointments left this month, McAtee said.
About 25.9 percent of people living in Aroostook County are 65 and older with most being on fixed incomes, according to 2023 U.S. Census data, which makes heating assistance vital.
This year the nonprofit is projecting 7,000 applications up from 5,765 last year for home energy assistance. The total allocation for the state’s home energy assistance was just below $40 million for this year’s home energy assistance.
Around 450 calls out of 700 have been made to applicants for the home energy assistance as of Monday, Feb. 12, according to ACAP officials.
A bill called “An Act to Establish the Winter Energy Relief Payment Program to Aid Residents with High Heating Costs and to Finalize the COVID Pandemic Relief Payment Program” was passed in the Maine Legislature on January 4, 2023.
About 1,465 households took advantage of the Winter Energy Relief Program, McAtee said.
The Winter Energy Relief bill allowed every household in Maine that was already certified to receive funding from the home energy assistance to be given a second allocation of funding for just over $1,000 last year under a supplemental heat benefit to help with the cost of heating in February, Parent said.
Some Mainers were over income and couldn’t qualify for the heating benefit despite the high costs of groceries and gas during 2023. The winter energy relief provided an $800 one time benefit for households going through a heating fuel emergency.
“We are going to try to serve our community as best as we can and get everyone an application before the end of the month,” McAtee said. “Hopefully we can get the best share of our dollars because it’s going to kind of be like a hunger games between all the caps.”
Households that weren’t eligible for home energy assistance were able to apply for the one time winter energy relief, Parent said. Even though the price of heating fuel has gone down, the price of food and utilities remain high.
“The only recourse that over income eligible households have had was through [ACAP’s] donor funds, which are funds that community members have helped raise,” Parent said.
This winter season around $120,000 was raised in donor funds during the Helping Hands Telethon in mid-November for ACAP’s emergency fuel assistance to last three months.
“The level of funding the country was doing during the pandemic was certainly unsustainable, so we expected a reduction in benefit,” Parent said.
Applications for the 2024-2025 heating season for home energy assistance will be available in mid-July 2024.
This story was updated to correct an error. It is new households driving up demand, not new Mainers.
