By Avi Salzman

The staff of the main federal program to keep the heat on for low-income people who are struggling to pay their bills has been gutted, according to two congressional representatives and the head of an associated nonprofit group.

LIHEAP, or the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, was one of the casualties of a broad reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. HHS is reducing its staff by 20,000 people, the department said in a press release last week. That included the entire staff administering LIHEAP, according to Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden, both Democrats from Maine.

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon wrote in an email that the department "will continue to comply with statutorily requirements, and as a result of the reorganization, will be better positioned to execute on Congress's statutory intent."

He didn't confirm the extent of the LIHEAP layoffs, but said the intent is "streamlining the functions of the Department and restructuring to better serve the American people."

Pingree said in an Instagram video that the layoffs could "force families to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table," suggesting that the layoffs were a precursor to the program being shut down.

LIHEAP has a budget of $4.1 billion for the current fiscal year, and helps more than six million households. It is focused on children, people who pay a lot of their income toward energy, and households with elderly and disabled people. Most recipients make less than $20,000 a year.

"This is catastrophic, as this staff is essential to administer the program," wrote Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's energy program. "Without a fully functioning LIHEAP program, millions of Americans may lose access to utility service."

The money is administered by states and tends to go directly to utilities to cover the bills of people unable to make payments, generally for heating or cooling expenses. It can be particularly important for utilities in cold-weather states like Wisconsin's WEC Energy Group. WEC said in its latest annual report that "elimination or reduced financial support of programs that provide energy assistance to our customers, including [LIHEAP], could impact the demand for energy and/or adversely impact our liquidity."

The National Energy Assistance Directors Association is a nonprofit that supports state directors administering LIHEAP. Mark Wolfe, executive director of the association, told Barron's that all of the staff was laid off, including the person who calculates how much money each state gets. Unless that is done, the money can't be released, he added.

Although most of the money has been allocated for this year, there is still $378 million left in the budget, which can be used for heating and cooling expenses, he said. "I would not be surprised if they say that without an allocation or staff to monitor the funding, they cannot distribute the $378 million to the states," he wrote.

Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com

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April 02, 2025 15:34 ET (19:34 GMT)

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