The federal government released $450 million from the national LiHEAP Emergency Contingency Fund on January 17th. Iowa’s allotment of the emergency fund is $9,337,881. Out of the state allotment, $7,800,000 will go to regular assistance; $450,000 will go to the Energy Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP) with the rest remaining unobligated until needed. The Iowa Bureau of Energy Assistance expects the average supplemental payment per household to be around $90. Households already enrolled will receive checks for the increased benefit and do not have to reapply.
The emergency supplement along with Iowa’s Block Grant Allocation brings the state’s total LiHEAP allotment as of Jan. 16th to $45,690,023. Even with the supplement, Iowa’s total LiHEAP fund allocation is only 88% of the funding received at the same time in 2006.
HACAP’s LiHEAP applications have already surpassed last year’s totals by 7.3%. This years total stood at 4920 approved applicants through January 4th surpassing the 4824 approved applicants from the same time last year. At the current pace LiHEAP will surpass last year’s mark of 6832 total accepted applicants by 498.