WASHINGTON, DC -- As families brace for cold weather and higher utility bills, approximately $3.7 billion in delayed federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is finally being released by the Trump Administration.

LIHEAP is a crucial lifeline that keeps vulnerable citizens safe and warm during winter by helping low-income households and seniors on fixed incomes pay their energy bills. The program also helps reduce energy costs through improved energy efficiency initiatives. Nationwide, an estimated 6 million households received assistance with heating and cooling costs through LIHEAP over the last year.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a leading member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a Congressional champion for LIHEAP, cheered the release of funds and says it includes $24,068,998 for Rhode Island. Reed led a November 14 letter calling for the swift release of the funding.

“We can’t just leave vulnerable people in the cold. LIHEAP is a lifeline and getting this aid to those who need it is a moral and economic imperative. We’ve got to move faster and provide robust LIHEAP funding because more and more people are struggling and falling behind with higher energy bills,” said Senator Reed.

The federal LIHEAP aid was held up during the beginning of the cold-weather season because of the federal government shutdown, which ended on November 12. In an internal communication sent to state agencies on November 18, the Trump Administration said it anticipated releasing approximately $3.7 billion in LIHEAP funding by the end of November. That message was sent by the Administration for Children and Families, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) division that currently oversees LIHEAP, after the Trump Administration terminated the entire LIHEAP staff in early April – about two dozen federal workers who were tasked with managing the multi-billion program annually.

Reed noted that in addition to terminating the entire LIHEAP staff, the Trump Administration proposed eliminating LIHEAP entirely in its annual budget blueprint, but Congress voted on a bipartisan basis to continue funding the program, with Senator Reed working on a bipartisan basis with Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to include a $20 million increase for LIHEAP, raising the overall amount to $4.045 billion in the Senate’s Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2026.

“This latest infusion of federal LIHEAP funding will provide overdue support to families in need and help them cope with high energy costs. In addition to easing the strain on household budgets, the release of LIHEAP funds also helps local small businesses that supply home heating fuel to customers with fixed or limited incomes,” said Senator Reed.

LIHEAP is administered by states and accessed in Rhode Island through local Community Action Agencies. Eligibility for LIHEAP is based on income, family size, and the availability of resources.

Nationwide, an estimated 6 million households received assistance with heating and cooling costs through LIHEAP over the last year, including over 28,200 Rhode Island households.

The average household will pay about $976 for home heating this winter, up from $907 just a year ago — an increase that outpaces inflation, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.

Last year, the average LIHEAP benefit covered about $500 in winter home heating costs for eligible Rhode Islanders.

Rhode Islanders wishing to apply for LIHEAP may click here to reach the Rhode Island Department of Human Services website to get more information and links to an online application.

Senator Reed noted that while the overdue release of these federal funds to state agencies is good news, he remains deeply concerned about the Trump Administration decimating the LIHEAP staff and the impact it could have on the federal government’s ability to effectively manage the program and assist states with LIHEAP going forward. Reed says he has no doubt that President Trump will once again try to eliminate LIHEAP altogether but vowed to continue working on a bipartisan basis to include LIHEAP funding in future Appropriations laws.