State law change needed to protect Minnesota low-income programs through federal uncertainty

On April 1, it was reported that the Trump administration eliminated the entire staff responsible for administering the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (known as LIHEAP, or Energy Assistance). This raised immediate concerns, as eligible families risk utility shutoffs or being unable to refill empty propane or fuel oil tanks if there is a delay in Energy Assistance funding. In the longer term, an interruption to the federal Energy Assistance Program could also disrupt Minnesota-based energy programs that support low-income households. When the federal news broke, CUB quickly took steps to protect these important programs.

The issue

Minnesota’s investor-owned utilities (Xcel, CenterPoint, Minnesota Power, and others) offer low-income affordability programs. These programs seek to ensure that energy-burdened households can keep their lights and heat on by providing discounted utility bills. The programs are funded entirely by ratepayers. They receive no funds from the federal or state government and are entirely separate from the Energy Assistance program. 

However, under state law, a household is determined to be eligible for these affordability programs if they receive Energy Assistance. The Energy Assistance program verifies the income of participating households, so there is no need for separate verification. Because of this, if federal Energy Assistance is reduced or eliminated, it will have a knock-on effect that threatens Minnesota’s utility affordability programs. 

Similarly, eligibility for low-income energy conservation programs under Minnesota law is partially determined using income data published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Like affordability programs, these conservation programs are funded entirely by Minnesota ratepayers. However, because Minnesota statute specifically names HUD, if HUD were to stop publishing this data, or if the data were shifted to a different federal agency, it could prevent eligible Minnesotans from accessing the programs. We believe this is a risk, as federal agency staffs are cut and the administration considers shifting responsibilities among agencies. Additionally, the federal government has already taken down some data that had previously been published online, including information related to health and energy affordability.

What we’re doing

CUB has asked the Minnesota legislature to make a small change to statute to ensure these programs can continue to provide assistance to thousands of Minnesota households despite uncertainty at the federal level. We worked with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, utilities, and program administrators to develop an adjustment to the eligibility requirements for utilities’ low-income affordability and conservation programs. 

Senate energy committee Chair Nick Frentz included this change in his energy omnibus bill, which was passed out of the energy committee last Wednesday. We are hopeful it can be included in the House omnibus, too, as that bill moves forward. 

Watch this space for more updates, and please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.