National Grid Urges Congress to Keep LIHEAP Funding to Protect Vulnerable Customers

March 22, 2017 /3BL Media/ - The White House proposed the elimination of the Low-Income Home Energy Program (LIHEAP) last week. While this proposal is not binding, we urge Congress and the Administration to reconsider this position. LIHEAP, created under President Ronald Reagan, has a history of bipartisan support and has provided millions of vulnerable Americans critical assistance with their energy bills since it was first created in 1981. In our service area, this program ensures that qualified individuals and families throughout New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island don’t have to make decisions each winter about whether to feed their families or heat their homes.   “LIHEAP dollars help low-income households with much needed energy assistance, but the program is so much more than that. When a customer qualifies for LIHEAP funding, National Grid is able to use that eligibility to automatically qualify those individuals for additional low-income programs like fuel funds, weatherization, and energy efficiency programs that utilities are in a unique position to provide,” said Dean Seavers, president of National Grid US. “An average of 338,000 households across our footprint utilize this program yearly.  It is vital that Congress continues to appropriate these life-protecting funds.”   Though need continues, the program has been dramatically slashed over the last several years – only one in five qualified households, including many working families, the elderly and the disabled – receives the assistance. 

About National Grid 
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG) is an electricity and natural gas delivery company that connects nearly 7 million customers to vital energy sources through its networks in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast. National Grid also operates the systems that deliver gas and electricity across Great Britain.

Through its U.S. Connect21 strategy, National Grid is transforming its electricity and natural gas networks to support the 21st century digital economy with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions. Connect21 is vital to our communities' long-term economic and environmental health and aligns with regulatory initiatives in New York (REV: Reforming the Energy Vision) and Massachusetts (Grid Modernization).

For more information please visit our website: www.nationalgridus.com, or our Connecting website. You can also follow us on Twitter, watch us on You Tube, Like us on Facebook and find our photos on Instagram.

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