The Oregon Housing and Community Services confirmed to OPB on Tuesday that it expects to receive federal funds for the low-income home energy assistance program, or LIHEAP. That payment to the state was delayed because of the federal government shutdown.
In a typical year, tens of thousands of Oregonians get help through the program.
The state agency has now received an award letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services saying that it will fund LIHEAP.
The program helps qualified lower-income Oregonians pay energy bills and retrofit homes with energy efficiency appliances. The program also helps people better insulate homes to stop air leaks to save on energy bills. According to the agency, an award letter allows the state access to the funds.
Oregon is expected to receive about $39.4 million or about 90% of the total $40.4 million awarded.
Jessie Schirrick is the Strategic Communications Coordinator with OHCS, the agency which receives and distributes the funds. Schirrick said they are not sure if the state will receive the remaining 10% of funds, and if they do, they are not sure when the state will actually get the money.
Right now, OHCS is working with local community action agencies to determine allocations for each provider.
After that, Schirrick said Oregon typically draws down from the federal funds weekly until they are exhausted.
Last month, the OHCS said it was unsure when the state would receive millions in federal funding to help residents keep the power on during winter. The halt was due to the federal shutdown that lasted 43 days.
Now that money is on its way, but Oregonians still won’t have access for at least four to six weeks.
Exactly how long it will take for funds to reach people across the state could vary, Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board Sarah Wochele said.
“In terms of timeline for households to get the money, my understanding from talking to some community action agency staff from around the state is that it will vary from community action agency,” she said.
Oregon is also expecting to receive less than in previous years. Last year Oregon received $41.7 million which was distributed to more than 114,000 Oregonians.
At a time when energy rates continue to increase, Schirrick said the LIHEAP funding can only go so far.
“Given that LIHEAP funding is adequate to serve less than 25% of those in each region of the state that qualifies for that funding, we know the need far exceeds the available funds,” Schirrick said.
Wochele agrees.
“It is important to keep in mind that LIHEAP does not meet the existing need as it is,” she said. “And now recent federal changes, particularly from HR 1 [the Republican-backed spending bill], are making it so that more people need assistance and that less people who were previously getting assistance are still able to access it.”
According to Oregon Housing and Community Services data covering 2023 and 2024, nearly half of the program’s funding was issued during the coldest months of those years.
Through LIHEAP, people can apply for either a crisis payment for sudden life disruptions that could result in a utility shutoff, a prevention payment to avoid getting behind on bills, or a restore payment to help get the power turned back on after disconnection.
According to the OHCS data, last year 90% of the funding went toward households at risk of being shut off by their utility, with about 70% going toward renters.
But low-income customers from Oregon’s largest regulated utilities, like Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and NW Natural, may not face any disconnection for non-payment through December. That’s due to a temporary moratorium banning those companies from shutting off gas or electricity for customers who are already enrolled in bill discount programs.
These protections end Jan. 1.
Oregon CUB and other energy justice advocates are fighting to extend disconnection moratoriums until April 1, 2026. That would give residents enough time to apply for funds.
According to Wochele, expending moratoriums would make sure vulnerable residents are not without power during the coldest and most expensive time of the year.
“We are also working to finalize stronger disconnection protections at the Oregon Public Utility Commission this month, but these are mitigative and cannot fill all of the gaps for people who are sincerely struggling and suffering under the weight of increasing unaffordability and federal actions,” Wochele said.
