Energy assistance programs stretched thin by higher demand

With cold weather around the corner, many are projecting winter heating costs to be higher because of energy prices. There is federal help to pay those bills; it’s called the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Each state gets some funding, and many start accepting applications in the fall. But that pool of money might be stretched thin this year.

More Americans are worried about paying their energy bills this winter. Tina Packard oversees Wyoming’s Low Income Energy Assistance program.

“I know that people are in need,” she said. “I know that the economy is crazy right now.”

Applications are flowing into programs all over the country, according to Mark Wolfe, co-director of the Center on Energy Policy and Poverty, a nonprofit that helps states secure federal money.

“It's not just low-income families. For the first time, states have been hearing from families who are over-income,” he said — as in they make just a little too much to qualify.

But Wolfe said that doesn’t mean they can afford their utility bill. “I just checked in Massachusetts, for example, heating oil right now is 70% more than last year.”

The federal program is set at about $4 billion, similar to the last couple of years. States will have to choose, Wolfe said.

“Either you cut the benefit levels so you can reach the same number of people” or deny some low-income households, he said.

But that could lead to disconnections or dangerous home heating, noted University of Pennsylvania’s Sanya Carley.

“You might flare a gas stove in your house for space heat, or you might run a dryer and disconnect the dryer vent and put somebody behind it so that their body warms up,” she said.

About one in six households are behind on their energy bills, according to a February 2026 report. That was before the Iran war.