With the super-cold temperatures we have been having lately, this
past weekend’s cold but sunny weather was a welcome break. I took advantage of it and brought in more
wood from my woodpile. I, like many
other Vermonters, am lucky to have a wood stove to supplement my oil heat. Burning wood, along with turning down my
thermostat, has saved quite a bit of heating oil despite sub-zero temperatures
for extended periods of time. As I
pulled the sled across the yard and up the steps I got to thinking about how
other less fortunate families and individuals have to deal with the cold.
The most immediate challenge when temperatures drop is how to take
care of people who do not have a permanent home. The person standing at the end of I-189 by
Shelburne Road asking for a handout; the Vietnam vet who usually lives in a
tent somewhere in the woods around the Intervale; the family that is living in
a homeless shelter because the breadwinner lost his/her job and can no longer
afford to pay the rent. Less immediate,
but still important, are those who do have homes but are struggling with their
heating bills. For someone who hasn’t had to struggle with situations like
these, it is easy to look away and think about something else. We can ignore the inconvenient realities that
blemish our otherwise comfortable world.
But we are our brothers’ keeper, and a moral conscience dictates that
those who can, the majority of us, must help.
As a society we have many vehicles to provide assistance to those
who need it in such emergencies, from the non-profits like COTS and the Red
Cross to federal and state assistance like the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP, a
program that provides emergency heating fuel to individuals and families who
have or are about to run out of fuel during the winter, has been hit hard by
the federal budget cuts over the last 3 years.
This program is available to families whose income is less than 125% of
the federal poverty level. While no
state funds were contributed to the LIHEAP prior to federal fiscal year
2005, in recent years, federal funds have steadily declined from a high of
$38.6 million in 2009 to $17 million this year.
As federal funding declined, Vermont has supplemented the program with
additional funds to try to keep at least $25M available. The number of Vermont families served has
consistently been around 27,000, with a spike to more than 45,000 in 2011 at
the peak of the recession.
As more of the burden of funding this program falls to Vermont, the
question becomes how to fund it and whether a better solution can be found to
address the problem. With most low
income families living in poorly insulated housing, much of their heating
dollars literally fly out the window.
The key to increasing the effectiveness of LIHEAP funds is to reduce
heat losses, that is, to weatherize homes.
The Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP) of 2011 called for 80,000 homes to
be weatherized by 2020. Weatherization
assistance has been available through Efficiency Vermont for all income levels,
but especially for low income homeowners.
However, funding for weatherization programs has been inadequate and the
state is currently about 2 years behind on reaching this CEP goal. A study committee recommended that reaching
the goal would require about $24M/year until 2020. Funding for 2014 through a one-time source of
money is $11M.
Last year Governor Shumlin proposed a tax on break-open lottery
tickets sold at bars and social clubs to raise $17M, including $6M for
weatherization programs. The House
Natural Resources & Energy Committee proposed a half-cent per gallon tax on
fuel oil to raise $6M. Both ideas were
rejected by the legislature, the first as unfeasible, and the second as
politically unacceptable. As this
session of the legislature moves forward, I will continue working to increase
funding for weatherization and give a high priority for these services to
LIHEAP recipients so that their future needs for assistance are reduced.
