Additional LIHEAP Funds To Help Heat Berkshire Homes
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Get Warm
 If you need assistance in any form, the best place to start is Berkshire Community Action Council in Pittsfield at 413-445-4503 and Great Barrington at 413-528-1947. |
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Stay Warm
Local utilities will work with you to create budget plans. Don't wait until you're behind. National Grid 800-322-3223 Berkshire Gas 800-592-2000 WMECO 800-286-2000 |
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Take Action
Think you're being cheated? Call the attorney general's consumer service coordinator in Springfield at 413-784-1240, Ext. 136 |
| Find out how much energy your home is using and losing and how to save more through the Center for Ecological Technology at 413-586-7350. |
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More Options
Assistance and/or information: Department of Housing and Community Development
800-632-8175
(Joe4Oil)
877-563-4645 |
Congress approved last Tuesday an additional $1.2 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and now the allocations need to be finalized.
The program is operating on limited funds this year and the additional measure will restore assistance near last year's level, according to Donald Atwater, executive director of Berkshire Community Action Council.
"What this is actually going to mean, we don't know yet," Atwater said on Wednesday. "Most people have exhausted their benefits and that's all there is right now. We're recommending that people get minimum deliveries to get through January.
"Up to date, they started with a very minimal level. Obviously, this is going to help."
Locally, the average benefit was about $550 per family and the additional funds will raise that average close to $850 per family, Atwater said. How long that will last depends on the weather. Recently oil prices have soared to the highest prices since 2008, exceeding more than $90 per barrel. Home-heating oil prices have risen along with gasoline and both are hovering around $3 per gallon.
That means a family with a 250-gallon tank can expect to spend $750 for one fill-up. The funds can also be used for natural gas, propane gas, wood, coal and electrical heating. Nearly 200,000 Massachusetts households qualify for LIHEAP.
New England residents were in a similar situation in 2008.
As of Monday, state governments have not been notified of a specific dollar amount but the language of the bill should be similar to previous years, according to Atwater.
Nationally, the program has been operating on a $2.7 billion budget and even with the additional funds, the total allotment this year falls short of last year's $5.1 billion.
The federal government typically adds more money to the program during the heating season but over the years, that's often meant a pitched battle along party lines.
The funds from the stopgap measure will expire on March 4, as well as funding for all of BCAC's programs because a federal budget has not been passed. Looking forward, Atwater said he is not optimistic about funding for the future. There is a lot of interest in national spending and the deficit and it will be a struggle to get funds added to the budget, he said.
"We will put pressure on our public officials and make sure they know what's going on with the program," Atwater said.
For now, local residents will need to wait for the federal government to issue a new allotment.
