KANSAS CITY, Mo — More help is available for families that need assistance paying for utilities.
Bills historically spike during winter and summer months, and with the current inflation in a post-pandemic era, those numbers can add up even faster.
A recent report by the Energy Information Administration says 27% of U.S. households had difficulty paying for utilities in 2020.
To help better address these financial concerns for thousands of Americans, the White House granted an additional $385 million dollars on Thursday for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
The program used to grant between $200-$300 of credit, but now applicants can expect $636 for electric and $632 for gas.
Crisis assistance is also built into the new expansion for households that have already been disconnected from their power, allowing up to $1,600 in the winter and $1,200 in the summer.
“The state greatly increased the amount of assistance they can get, so we see it really having a big impact on households," Shelly Stroessner, the Mid-America Assistance Coalition’s director of programs said. “So we can help people get their account balance to zero sometimes instead of just keep off that one more thread of disconnect.”
Since the applications have opened on Oct.1, MAAC has already received 10,000 applications.
“We get between, I would say 25 to 75 applications a day. At the beginning of the program season, we get literal buckets of mail each day,” Stroessner said. “We serve Jackson, Clay and Platte county residents, and that is between 12 and 14,000 households.”
Stroessner says households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits almost automatically become eligible.
If a household of one makes $2,200 per month or a household of three makes $3,500 per month, both would also likely qualify.
Here are the basic requirements:
- Applicant must be a United States citizen or permanent resident
- Applicant must be responsible for paying the bills
- Applicant must live in the household where the utilities are used
- Applicant must be able to supply income documents if not on food stamps
