Funding to help 10,000 low-income Minnesota households with their heating bills is at risk after the Trump administration abruptly cut the entire staff of the federal program that distributes that aid.
All U.S. Health and Human Services employees responsible for administering the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) were fired in Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s April 1 purge of 10,000 workers. The move puts energy assistance dollars promised to states in limbo, including about $12 million Minnesota expected to receive this month.
“We are both surprised and dismayed,” said Lissa Pawlisch, assistant commissioner for federal and state initiatives at the state Department of Commerce.
Minnesota received $112 million in federal funds for energy assistance in November, about 90% of what the state is promised for this winter season. The remaining 10%, anticipated to be around $12 million, should be filling state coffers any day now, Pawlisch said in an interview. When that will happen — and who will send the money — are now unclear.
The Minnesota Department of Commerce administers the program, which residents generally apply for though local Community Action Partnership agencies. But no one at the agency was notified of the federal staff cuts until Friday, April 4, Pawlisch said.
“We fully expect the federal government to follow through with their commitments,” she said.
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement that it will “continue to comply with statutory requirements, and as a result of the reorganization, will be better positioned to execute on Congress’s statutory intent.”
Nearly $80 million has been awarded to Minnesota households for energy assistance since October 1, according to the state Commerce Department’s energy dashboard. That money has gone out to 108,769 households, preventing 22,873 families from having their power disconnected. The average statewide benefit is $735 per household.
Two-thirds of the state’s energy assistance funding goes to households outside the metro area. Around 43,000 households in the seven-county metro area have received energy assistance this year, with an average benefit of $603, according to the Commerce Department.
The outstanding money would be enough to provide assistance to roughly 10,000 more households, Pawlsich said. That funding could make a real difference to people behind on their energy bills, especially in Minnesota.
“It’s still winter here some days and we still have a while to go on the energy assistance season,” said Annie Levenson-Falk, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board.
Energy assistance covers emergency replacements for broken furnaces and fuel refills for rural residents who heat with propane or natural gas. This winter, Minnesota households on energy assistance have received 9,608 heating fuel deliveries
“If we run out of funds in the middle of April we’re nervous about that,” Pawlisch said.
A bipartisan group of senators, including Minnesota Democrat Tina Smith, sent a letter to Kennedy on April 3, urging him to reverse staffing cuts for energy assistance administrators.
“Firing all the workers from the office that helps families keep their homes warm and safe through the winter is thoughtless and cruel. Hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans are facing severe winter weather right now, and the need for heating assistance is greater than ever,” Smith said in a separate statement.
Energy assistance has enjoyed broad, bipartisan support for decades.
“Nobody saw this coming,” said Karlee Weinmann, a Minnesota-based research and communications manager with the nonprofit Energy and Policy Institute.
Federal energy assistance is a benchmark that is often used to verify if households are eligible for additional benefits through state and local governments and utility companies. Staffing cuts create uncertainty that could have a ripple effect, Weinmann said.
Energy assistance makes payments directly to the utility providers for households enrolled in the program.
Xcel Energy, the largest electric utility in the state, told Sahan Journal in a statement that they will continue to work with customers to avoid disconnections. Payments from energy assistance are still coming to Xcel, spokesman Theo Keith said.
“We, along with our industry, are closely monitoring these developments. At this point, we have not experienced any gap in payments. We will continue to enroll customers in our affordability programs and will work closely with state and federal agencies to ensure our customers receive all the energy assistance they need,” Xcel said in a statement.
CenterPoint Energy and Minnesota Power did not respond to requests for comment.
The Energy and Policy Institute, where Weinmann works, reached out to 46 of the largest utility providers in the country about the energy assistance staffing cuts, but only received responses from 11 companies who all offered support for LIHEAP.
“We’re in a rubber-meets-the-road situation where it’s incumbent on everyone to step up and defend LIHEAP, and we’re not seeing that, we’re not seeing that from utilities,” Weinmann said.
The cuts come at a time when energy prices are expected to rise. Trump’s promised 10% energy tariff on Canada could have a big impact in Minnesota, which imports electricity and gas.
“We get a lot of energy from Canada in Minnesota,” Levenson-Falk said.
Minnesotans who are behind on their energy bills should still apply for energy assistance, Pawlisch said. The outstanding 10% owed to Minnesota was approved by Congress, and the state expects it to come through. But the uncertainty created by the Trump administration cuts is alarming those who work with the program.
“It’s a program that helps people who own their homes, who rent their homes, to make sure they’re whole,” Pawlisch said.
Federal funding is critical to the program, Pawlisch said. Beyond concerns about accessing remaining funds for this year, what will happen next winter is unknown. The state starts planning for the next winter each January.
“We expect next year’s funding to come through because this is a vital and essential program,” Pawlisch said.
