ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After the federal shutdown caused a delay in the application process, some households who were approved for heating assistance through the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) are still waiting for the funds to actually reach their utility accounts.
The application process opened on December 1st after a month-long delay due to the federal shutdown. A majority of participants in New York are automatically enrolled in HEAP if they are already receiving public assistance or SNAP benefits. In Monroe County alone, anywhere between 60-65,000 people typically receive the benefit.
Despite government assurances that the money is on its way, those in need are left wondering when it will arrive. Sharon Ebbs, who keeps her home at 64 degrees to conserve energy, relies on HEAP to help pay her energy bill. “I wear fleece and alpaca socks, I swear by alpaca socks,” Ebbs says with a smile.
She automatically qualifies for HEAP because she receives SNAP benefits, and typically, the funds are sent directly to RG&E on her behalf by now. Ebbs shared her frustration, saying, “I waited through last week because it was a holiday week and called RG&E yesterday because now I have two bills and they said, no… there’s no HEAP payment (yet) but they did share that other customers had been calling quite a bit last week, they received quite a few calls.”
The federal government provides states with money to fund HEAP. New York then distributes the cash to local counties who are responsible for processing payments to utilities. A spokesman for the NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance tells News10NBC, the state began processing those payments when the program opened and those automatically enrolled in HEAP should see the benefit in their utility account within the next week.
In the meantime, if you’re having trouble keeping up with your bill, RG&E and NYSEG encourage you to call them, “if they’re (customers) struggling or they know they’re going to have an issue coming up making a financial payment, reach out to us now,” Alexis Arnold, spokeswoman for RG&E said during a recent interview.
Arnold emphasized the importance of communication, “we don’t want anyone in a situation where they don’t have heat or they can’t pay so, we really want to work with our customers on establishing a plan and just getting them the assistance they need,” she said.
For those who haven’t signed up for HEAP yet and believe they might qualify, more information is available: Here.
The regular HEAP benefit is available to those who qualify based on income, and an additional emergency HEAP benefit is available to those who can prove further financial hardship. The application for emergency HEAP opened on Jan. 2.
NYS says most HEAP payments should be processed by this week WHEC.com.
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