12.10.01

Senator Cantwell Calls on the BushAdministration To Fully Fund LIHEAP

WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and the other Democratic members of the Washington state congressional delegation today sent a letter to the Bush Administration requesting the release of $300 million that Congress appropriated to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in July.

LIHEAP is a federally funded program which makes block grants to states in order to help eligible households pay for the costs of home energy. LIHEAP payments are made directly from state or local programs to eligible households, or to utilities on behalf of eligible households. The program is particularly important in times of bad weather or rising energy costs. Requests for assistance are expected to rise by up to 50 percent during the course of this winter.

The Department of Health and Human Services has not released the funds, citing falling energy prices and forecasts for a mild winter. The Northwest, however, still suffers from rising electricity costs. Some Northwest ratepayers have seen wholesale rate increases of nearly 50 percent. Electricity heats 73 percent of Washington state's low-income homes, and LIHEAP funds are expected to be in high demand this winter.

The text of the letter follows:

December 10, 2001

The Honorable Tommy Thompson Secretary of Health and Human Services 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20447

Dear Secretary Thompson,

We write to urge you immediately to release the $300 million in Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) funds that Congress approved this July, as part of the Fiscal Year 2001 supplemental appropriations bill (P.L. 107-20).

Testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on October 30, Assistant Secretary Horn indicated that there are no plans currently in place to release these funds due to a precipitous drop in some fuel prices as well as forecasts of a relatively mild winter. While this may be the case in some regions of the country-such as the Northeast and Midwest, which have historically been the foremost beneficiaries of LIHEAP-it is certainly not an accurate portrayal of the situation faced this winter by many of Washington state's poorest citizens.

Washington state residents and the Northwest as a whole have been severely harmed this past year by skyrocketing electricity prices, which-during the height of the Western energy crisis-spiked to as much as 1000 percent above normal. While wholesale electricity prices have now stabilized, one of the daunting realities we face in Washington state is that, despite rate increases in some areas that had already reached almost 50 percent by September, the worst is not yet over. It wasn't until October 1 that the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets about 70 percent of the power consumed in Washington, put in place its 46 percent wholesale increase. As a result, many of our residents are bracing for even more retail rate increases, and will begin feeling the impacts of this crisis most acutely when they start receiving their utility bills during our winter peak heating season.

As Assistant Secretary Horn stated in his testimony, LIHEAP fulfills a "dual responsibility to provide ongoing assistance where it is most needed and to respond to emergency situations such as extreme weather conditions, supply disruptions, or price spikes." This is precisely the type of situation with which our state's citizens are currently faced. We believe it is also important to note that some 73 percent of Washington's low-income households are heated by electricity-for which retail rates are rising precipitiously. Less than 22 percent use gas and oil, the prices for which--as Assistant Secretary Horn noted--are at significantly lower levels than last year.

Even before the current rate increases were put in place, only about 22 percent of Washington state's eligible households received LIHEAP assistance in 2000. This year, local government and nonprofit organizations report they are "overloaded everywhere" across the state with requests for assistance. By one estimate, demand for LIHEAP assistance in our state is expected to rise by as much as 50 percent this year.

Thank you for your attention to this matter of such extreme importance to our constituents. Given the potentially devastating situation many of Washington state's most economically disadvantaged residents face this winter, we encourage you to release immediately the $300 million in emergency LIHEAP funding.

Sincerely,

_________________________ Maria Cantwell U.S. Senator _________________________ Patty Murray U.S. Senator _________________________ Norm Dicks Member of Congress _________________________ Jay Inslee Member of Congress _________________________ Jim McDermott Member of Congress _________________________ Adam Smith Member of Congress _________________________ Brian Baird Member of Congress _________________________ Rick Larsen Member of Congress

cc: Mitch Daniels