Maine receives $9.7 million for low-income energy assistance

PORTLAND – Maine’s share from the latest release of low-income emergency assistance funding comes out to nearly $10 million, Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe announced Thursday evening.

The funding was released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services days after a bill was signed by President Bush.

With the additional $9.97 million, Maine’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program can fulfill its obligations, Collins and Snowe said.

It took months to get the legislation through Congress, in part because of resistance from fiscal conservatives opposed to new spending and from lawmakers from warm weather states who contend that the program favors cold weather regions.

“For our most disadvantaged families struggling to make ends meet, it is my sincere hope that this money will give them the support they so desperately need so they won’t be forced to chose between paying for food or fuel,” Snowe said.

Collins said Mainers still need the federal money even though the winter’s harshest weather is behind them. “The cold season has not yet passed in Maine, and this modest assistance has and will continue to save lives,” she said.

Snowe noted that while the program’s spending has remained relatively flat in recent years, the average household heating oil expenditure has more than doubled to $1,474 since 2001.