Beginning Wednesday, December 3, the Maine State Housing Authority will be opening its Energy Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP) for the upcoming winter season.
This comes after the federal government released $40 million in heating assistance funds to Maine that were initially delayed due to the prolonged government shutdown earlier this year.
Typically, ECIP opens on November 1 each year, meaning that the program’s launch was pushed back by just over a month.
Through this program, qualifying households are eligible to receive a one-time benefit of up to $500 for heating is 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.
It is estimated that about 7,000 households take advantage of help through ECIP every year.
Although applications were processed throughout the month of November, payments were not able to be issued until funding became available.
[RELATED: Maine’s Emergency Heating Assistance Program On Hold As Government Shutdown Continues]
“MaineHousing is pleased it can now make available these critical crisis intervention funds that last winter helped more than 7,000 households with an emergency payment to their heating fuel vendors when they needed it most,” said MaineHousing Director Dan Brennan.
“While the start of ECIP was delayed by a little over a month,” he added, “being able to open it now, as our first real winter storm descends upon us, is gratifying.”
Spending on ECIP accounts for approximately $3 million of the $26 million received in federal heating aid that goes toward around 50,000 Maine households each winter.
Households can begin the application process online by visiting: www.mainehousing.org and clicking on the “fuel assistance” button in the center of the page.
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This announcement comes as the federal government released $40 million in heating assistance funds for the state earlier this week.
About $38 million of this funding will go towards the State of Maine, while the remaining $1.5 million will be sent directly to the Indian Township and Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq Tribes in Maine.
[RELATED: Federal Government Releases $40 Million in Heating Assistance Funds for Mainers]
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.
While MaineHousing was awaiting the receipt of federal funding for the current fiscal year, the organization was able to temporarily utilize carryover funding to provide heating assistance to 4,000 of Maine’s most vulnerable households, with benefits totaling about $2.2 million.
Those who applied for assistance in August and September saw their HEAP payments distributed over the course of several weeks.
The Maine State Housing Authority noted at the time that the early applications — the pool from which these recipients were drawn — prioritize “the most vulnerable populations,” including the elderly and households with young children, as well as those who are at risk of hypothermia.
