Proposal to expand Energy Assistance advances in the Minnesota Legislature

A bill to expand Energy Assistance had an important hearing in the Minnesota Senate yesterday. 

Energy Assistance is an essential program that allows thousands of Minnesotans to afford their utility bills and keep the heat on in the winter months – but available assistance falls far short of the need. As past-due bills continue to stack up, the number of shutoffs grows, and high temperatures become more common in our state, Minnesota should expand the Energy Assistance program and provide assistance year-round. 

For more than two years, CUB has worked on a proposal to address this need. Yesterday, the bill (Senate File 486, carried by Senator Scott Dibble) was heard by the Senate Energy committee, with support from more than 20 organizations including providers of low-income services, electric and gas utilities, local governments, and more. This early hearing suggests that the proposal is likely to be a Senate priority if funding allows.  

About the Energy Assistance Program  

Energy Assistance (EAP, or LIHEAP) is a federally funded program administered by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which works with local service providers throughout the state. The program provides grants to income-qualified households to help offset the cost of energy during the winter months. Currently, Minnesotans can apply for assistance beginning in October through the end of May. The program offers necessary relief to households who struggle with their bills year-round, but there are limited options available to customers to make their bills more affordable during the summer months.  

If you or someone you know is struggling to afford energy bills, click here to learn about Energy Assistance and apply, and here to find additional resources and utility consumer rights.  

The need for expanded Energy Assistance  

Minnesotans owe a substantial amount in past-due utility bills. While utility arrears have reduced somewhat from their post-COVID peak, helped by the price of natural gas coming back down, Minnesota’s regulated utilities still carried more than $100 million in arrearages at the end of 2024. The total is higher if you include cooperatives and municipal utilities, not to mention households that struggle to gather the money needed to refill their propane or fuel oil tanks. 

Unaffordable energy costs can have snowballing effects for households. According to a recent study, approximately 20 to 34 percent of U.S. households went without necessities such as food or medicine to pay utility bills. 69 percent of people who took out payday loans did so in order to pay a regular expense such as utilities – and compounding debts further increase households’ difficulty in paying utility bills.    

Energy Assistance provides critical help during the winter months, but most utility shutoffs occur between June and September. And shutoffs are rising dramatically: far more households were shut off in 2024 than in any year since at least 2015.  

Energy Assistance has traditionally provided support for heating in Minnesota because we experience such extremely low temperatures. However, with our warming summers, air conditioning is increasingly becoming a necessity. The need for cooling has increased dramatically in recent decades – and low-income families in Minnesota are more likely to live in neighborhoods that are up to eight degrees hotter than average. That’s not even considering days when Minnesotans must close the windows and turn on the AC due to wildfire smoke or other causes of poor air quality.  

More than half the country already provides Energy Assistance for cooling, including northern states like North Dakota. Minnesota, too, provided assistance through the summer months during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

What’s next for the bill 

The Senate Energy committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion in a future omnibus bill – meaning they will hang onto it until the committee knows how much funding it will have to spend in 2025, at which point Chair Nick Frentz will consider including this proposal in his proposed spending package.  

The bill will need a hearing in the House Energy committee, too. We expect the bill will be formally introduced soon in the House, now that the body has reached a power-sharing agreement and is convening in session.  

What you can do 

• Contact your Senator and Representative and let them know that you support this proposal. You can find your legislators and their contact information here.
• If your organization is interested in supporting this proposal, please contact me at annielf@cubminnesota.org.
• Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on this bill.