It was created to provide assistance to low-income persons with disabilities, families with young children, the elderly, and working poor with their energy bills. People living in very cold and very warm areas have an increasingly difficult time paying for heating or cooling. Many live in poorly insulated rental properties with high heating or cooling costs. In order to prevent energy companies from turning off their utilities for lack of payment, some people are setting their thermostats so low in winter that they are endangering their physical well-being.
Every year there is a battle to adequately fund the program.
Forward funding is critical for local planning, particularly if appropriations are delayed. Efforts to maintain both adequate funding and forward funding will be the continual goal of advocates.