Protect LIHEAP: Fund the program at the highest possible level

Recent national reporting reveals that the Trump administration aims to eliminate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP, or Energy Assistance) from the federal budget. The program is an effective and efficient way to ensure that Minnesotans can keep their homes warm and the power on in the winter. Cutting the program would have major impacts for Minnesotans who are already struggling to afford their high energy bills.

On May 12, CUB's Executive Director Annie Levenson-Falk joined the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency in Duluth for a press conference denouncing these proposed cuts and stressing the need for Energy Assistance for thousands of Minnesotans. 

The following is CUB's full statement. You can watch the full press conference here.

Good morning. As Commissioner Arnold said, my name is Annie Levenson-Falk, and I’m executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota, or CUB, a nonprofit advocate for energy consumers throughout the state.

We keep a close eye on trends related to energy affordability, and Last year, more Minnesotans faced utility shutoffs than in any year in our records. 91,000 Minnesota households had their electricity or gas service disconnected for nonpayment in 2024. This far exceeds any previous year going back at least to 2015.

And those 91,000 households count only customers of regulated utilities, which publicly report their data. It doesn’t include Minnesotans who are served by rural electric coops or municipal utilities, or people who struggle with the $800 or $900 needed to refill a propane tank.

Residential customers of Minnesota’s regulated utilities now owe a combined $143 million in past-due bills. This figure has been persistently high since the pandemic. Compounded by the cost of housing and inflation throughout the family budget, energy is unaffordable for too many Minnesotans.

Where is this need coming from?

The need is greater in Greater Minnesota. Average energy burdens – the percent of household income that’s spent on energy – are significantly higher in rural Minnesota than in urban areas, and the majority of Energy Assistance funding goes to Greater Minnesota.

It’s seniors: Nearly half of the Minnesota households that receive Energy Assistance have a person over 60. About 4 in 10 Minnesota households that receive Energy Assistance have a member who is disabled. 17% have a child under the age of 6. Nationally, 20% of recipients are veterans.

Facing a utility shutoff can have really severe effects on a household. About one third of Americans have gone without necessities like food or medicine in order to pay utility bills. Expenses can stack up with a shutoff. Your food can spoil. To get the shutoff sorted out, you may have to miss work. Two thirds of Americans who take out payday loans do so to pay for regular expenses like utility bills.

Eliminating Energy Assistance could have severe effects for the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who depend on it. CUB is very concerned about proposals to eliminate this essential program, and I am speaking today to strongly encourage Congress to fund it at the highest level possible.