Data shared by the Maine State Housing Authority shows that Mainers from the northern-most parts of the state have so far this year been the largest beneficiaries of the organization’s heating assistance programs.
With a combined $26 million available in total, roughly $3.5 million remains for the rest of the winter season as around $22.5 million has already been distributed to households throughout the state.
Just over $3 million has been spent on MaineHousing’s Energy Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP) this winter, helping a total of 7,003 households.
Under this program, qualifying households are eligible to receive a one-time benefit of up to $500 for heating if they are in an emergency situation, such as having run out of heating fuel or being below a quarter of a tank of heating oil, among other things.
38,114 households have been given assistance through the primary Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), totaling over $18.5 million.
Mainers living in Penobscot County have so far been the biggest beneficiaries of these programs, receiving a total of $3.6 million in assistance. This was closely followed by a total of $3.1 million distributed to Mainers in Aroostook County.
Receiving the least aid from these programs were those living in Sagadahoc County, where just over $219,000 has been spent.
Those living in Maine’s most populous county, Cumberland, have been sent a combined $1.49 million, while the least populous county of Androscoggin has been given around $1.6 million so far this winter.
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The release of these funds comes after a delay of more than a month due to the historically long federal government shutdown this fall.
Although some aid was able to be provided to the most vulnerable Mainers, the vast majority of applicants were required to wait until federal funding was distributed in order to receive assistance.
It was announced earlier this week that the long-awaited federal funding would be coming to Maine Wednesday, allowing MaineHousing to begin distributing benefits to qualifying applicants.
Last month, Sen. Susan Collins (R) joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in urging the Trump Administration to release heating assistance funds as quickly after the record-long government shutdown finally came to an end.
