Albany, NY – May 11, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — The State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) today announced that 500,000 of New York’s neediest households will receive additional federal funding to assist in meeting their current energy costs. The additional assistance is being provided with $45 million in federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) contingency funds released to New York earlier this year by President Obama.“High unemployment rates and the prolonged recession have led to a record demand for home energy assistance, and we are committed to doing all we can to see that all New Yorkers get the help that they need,” said Kristin Proud, Deputy Secretary for Human Services, Technology and Operations, who is currently overseeing OTDA. “While the calendar says it’s spring, New Yorkers know the heating season is still ongoing. With oil prices up by more than 20 percent over this point in time last year, these additional Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) benefits will enable many families, including senior citizens on fixed incomes who did not receive an increase in their Social Security benefits this year, to get through the final cold nights before warmer weather takes hold.”
HEAP is a federally-funded program administered through OTDA and local departments of social services which assists eligible households in meeting their home energy needs. The regular and emergency components of New York’s 2009-2010 HEAP season opened on November 2, 2009, and will remain open through Friday, May 14, 2010. The heating equipment repair and replacement component of the 2009-10 HEAP program will continue to operate until close of business on Thursday, September 30, 2010.
Previously, the maximum regular benefit a household could receive this season was $700. Now, eligible households will be able to receive an additional $200 if they heat their home with a deliverable fuel such as oil, kerosene or propane, or $100 if they heat with natural gas or electricity provided by their utility company.
Most households that have already received a HEAP benefit this winter will not need to apply for the second regular benefit, and will receive a notice later this month informing them that their additional benefit has been sent to their fuel vendor to be credited to their account. Those households to whom OTDA is unable to authorize a payment will receive a notice at that time with instructions on how to apply. If an eligible household is applying for regular HEAP for the first time this season, they need to do so by May 14, and both the first and second regular benefits will be issued at the same time.
New Yorkers can check to see if they may be eligible for HEAP, and a host of other benefits, by answering a few simple questions quickly and anonymously online at www.myBenefits.ny.gov.
Through the end of April, over 1.4 million HEAP benefits have been issued, a 13 percent increase over the same time last year. Last winter, New York issued more than 1.5 million HEAP benefits to low-income households, a record high.
