More Kansans now eligible for help with winter utility bills. Here are the details

More Kansans can now get help with their winter heating bills after Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday announced expanded eligibility for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program.

Kelly’s announcement extends the deadline to apply for assistance to May 28 and allows people who make more money to apply. This year, residents who make up to 150% of the poverty level — $39,300 for a family of four — will be eligible, up from 130% in previous years.

The LIEAP is a federally-funded program that pays a portion of home energy costs with a one-time per year benefit.

The announcement comes on the heels of a February that shocked large swaths of the U.S. electric and gas systems with extremely cold weather.

But this year’s LIEAP changes won’t help with the largest part of the looming financial issue from the February freeze — fuel prices that skyrocketed as much as 200 times normal during the coldest days.

Those costs, estimated to be in the billions of dollars statewide, are not expected to flow through to customers until next year’s bills.

Current bills are based on prices gas and electric companies estimated at the beginning of the year that they would need to pay for February fuels, which turned out to be wildly underestimated.

The only increases to bills right now reflect customers’ higher usage during February — not the unprecedented high cost of fuel.

The Kansas Corporation Commission, the state’s utility regulation board, is investigating ways to potentially soften that blow by allowing customers to pay it off in installments.

Linda Berry of the KCC said there are two main groups of customers who could benefit now from the governor’s actions this year:

• Residents who lost jobs or saw their income drop due to the business slowdown that accompanied the COVID pandemic, making them eligible for benefits they didn’t qualify for before.
• Low-income Kansans who don’t ordinarily struggle with paying their utility bills, but are experiencing hardships now because they had to use more gas and/or electricity to keep their homes livable in February.

“We know that many people face higher than normal energy bills because of the unprecedented winter weather in February,” Kelly said in a written statement. “My administration will remain in communication with our federal and local partners to protect Kansans from the impacts of extreme cold temperatures.”

LIEAP applicants must have the utilities in their name, according to a news release. Payments must have been made on their heating bills in two of the last three months, with those payments totaling at least $80 or the total balance of those bills, whichever is less.

The dollars they receive will vary based on income, number of people living in the home, type of residence and heating source as well as utility rates, the release says.

LIEAP applications are available at Kansas Department of Children and Families locations, by calling 1-800-432-0043 or visiting cssp.kees.ks.gov/apspssp/sspNonMed.portal.

More information is also available at dcf.ks.gov/services/ees/Pages/EnergyAssistance.aspx.

Are you eligible for help?

The following are the income guidelines for Kansans to be eligible for LIEAP funds:

This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 3:06 PM.