Overview
- Pennsylvania begins accepting LIHEAP applications Dec. 3 after a month-long delay caused by the federal shutdown.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released $3.7 billion nationwide, including over $208 million for Pennsylvania to assist an estimated 300,000 households.
- New York opened HEAP applications Dec. 1, with emergency benefits scheduled to accept applications starting Jan. 2.
- Assistance is first-come, first-served, and New York exhausted federal HEAP funds by late January last winter, prompting officials and utilities to urge early applications.
- Pennsylvania utilities paused electric and gas shutoffs during November, yet households relying on deliverable fuels such as heating oil lacked comparable protections.