Padilla Announces Over $226 Million for California to Help Households Save on Home Energy Costs
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) announced that California was awarded over $226 million in funding from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help individuals and families with low incomes pay their home heating costs in the winter and their cooling bills in the summer. LIHEAP can also be used to weatherize homes to make them more energy efficient, and during disasters and extreme weather to mitigate energy emergencies. This funding also includes $863,877 distributed directly to Tribal LIHEAP programs in California.
Today’s $3.7 billion in total federal funding, administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), includes funds appropriated by Congress from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“Families across California depend on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help pay their heating and cooling bills amid increasingly fluctuating and extreme temperatures driven by the climate crisis,” said Senator Padilla. “This funding will help protect the health and safety of many vulnerable low-income and Tribal communities. I’m proud to have helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which included crucial funding for this program, and I encourage households to check their eligibility.”
Maintaining safe indoor air temperatures is critical, particularly for households that include older adults, individuals with disabilities, and young children. By helping to reduce the costs of home heating and cooling bills, reconnecting energy services that have been disconnected, preventing energy shutoffs, and providing minor energy-related home repairs, LIHEAP helps make sure that our neighbors can meet their home energy needs and stay safe in their homes.
To apply for LIHEAP funding, Californians should visit the California Department of Community Services and Development website here. Individuals interested in applying for LIHEAP can also visit energyhelp.us or call the National Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) hotline toll-free at: 1-866-674-6327.
Senator Padilla has consistently advocated for LIHEAP funding to help low-income families afford their energy bills. Padilla has signed onto several letters pushing for the release of additional LIHEAP funding, including a letter earlier this year urging the Senate Subcommittee on Labor Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies to provide the highest level of funding possible for LIHEAP in FY 2024. Throughout his time in the Senate, he and the late Senator Dianne Feinstein supported hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to assist families in need of heating assistance ahead of the winter months.
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