April 28th, 2008
As heat costs have risen, so have the requests for aid, the New York Times reported on Friday. Pennsylvania has been hit especially hard, where “applications for “crisis grants” for those whose oil tanks are empty or who face an imminent utilities cutoff totaled about 133,000 in each of the last two years but have already reached 166,000 this year, said Linda Blanchette, deputy secretary of income maintenance.”
States are hoping that Congress will increase contributions to the LIHEAP program, which provided $2.6 billion in grants this fiscal year. PA’s program has ended for the year and will reopen in November 2008.