By Jeff Devine, Editor-in-Chief, Dale County Chronicle
Governor Kay Ivey announced this week that Alabama will distribute roughly $43.8 million in grants to help low-income residents cover home heating and cooling costs. The funding combines regular LIHEAP allocations with supplemental support from the Biden-era federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The approximately $43.8 million in funding represents a nearly 30% decrease from the over $60 million that was allocated in 2024.
“Keeping a home warm during the coldest winter months and cool during the hottest summer days can be a major challenge for families with very limited incomes,” Ivey said. “These grants will ensure that help is available to those who need it most during extreme weather conditions.”
With the release of the funds, agencies that adminsiter the energy assistance are expecting to have their funds available in January, according to one official who works for the Organized Community Action Program, which administers the aid to residents in Dale County as well as several neighboring counties.
“The uncertainty around whether or not we would receive these funds has placed a heavy strain on many families,” the offical said. “We have had many, many calls each day asking about the availability of funding, and it was difficult to tell the struggling families that we simply did not know if or when funds would become available,” she added.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), established by Congress in 1981 after revamping a 1970s-era program that provided similar assistance, has been a crucial lifeline for tens of thousands of low-income Alabama families and individuals every year. The program is essential during Alabama summers since temperatures regularly climb past 100 degrees, and tens of thousands of low-income families rely on LIHEAP to keep their electricity on and their homes safe.
Administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs through local community action agencies, the program has long served as a critical safeguard against dangerous utility shutoffs during extreme heat and cold.
That lifeline has faced serious uncertainty. Earlier this year, Alabama lost $1 million in federal LIHEAP funding, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services abruptly closed its LIHEAP division, laying off staff without prior notice. Proposed federal budget changes, including the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which narrowly passed the House in April, threatened to eliminate the program entirely.
For Alabamians, 20% of whom live at or near the federal poverty level, the potential loss carried heavy consequences, especially for rural households with higher energy costs.
Delays in federal funding added to the concern. Typically, states receive LIHEAP allocations at the start of November, but this year the funds were held up by several factors, including failures to compromise in Congress, pressure from President Trump to eliminate the program, and the federal government shutdown.
Approximately $3.6 billion in delayed LIHEAP funding was finally released to states and tribal governments, enabling households to begin receiving support for heating and cooling costs.
“This release of LIHEAP funding is essential and long overdue,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. “Families can finally begin receiving the support they need to keep the heat on as winter begins.” He also noted that delays in both LIHEAP and SNAP put many households in precarious situations, particularly with rising energy costs and record-high utility arrearages.
Alabama Power, the state’s largest provider of energy, has steadily increased its rates, with its costs steadily rising by approximately 30% over the last 10 years. Earlier this month, however, Alabama Power announced a suspension on rate increases through 2027.
“We know budgets are tight, and power bills are a real concern for many families and businesses,” said Moses Feagin, Alabama Power’s executive vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer. “This commitment gives customers more certainty and predictability around electric rates at a time when many other household and business costs are rising.”
Alabama has long been one of the states in the South with the highest energy rates for residential customers, making programs, including LIHEAP, essential for many Alabamians.
ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said the program prioritizes Alabama’s most vulnerable residents, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and households with young children. “ADECA stands with Governor Ivey in providing critical assistance to Alabamians facing emergency energy needs,” Boswell added.
Eighteen local community action agencies will administer the grants and accept applications from households seeking help with energy costs. ADECA noted that funding may not be immediately available, as each agency sets its own application schedule.
State data highlights the program’s importance. In 2024, more than $60 million in LIHEAP funds helped around 82,000 households across Alabama, with more than 70 percent of those homes including at least one vulnerable individual. For the current fiscal year, Alabama received just under $59 million in funding, roughly half of which had already been spent by April 30, just before the start of the cooling season.
These grants provide a vital safety net for Alabama families, helping ensure that vulnerable households can maintain safe and livable conditions year-round—even as federal support for the program has faced delays and uncertainty.
The allocations for the state agencies to administer heating and cooling assistance are listed by agency and the counties they serve:
Organized Community Action Program received $1.9 million to serve all of the following counties: Dale, Bullock, Butler, Covington, Crenshaw, Lowndes, and Pike counties
Community Action Agency of Northwest Alabama: $1.6 million for Colbert, Franklin, and Lauderdale counties
Community Action Partnership of Huntsville/Madison and Limestone Counties: $2.9 million
Walker County Community Action Agency: $623,646
Community Action of Etowah County: $1.1 million
Community Action Agency of Talladega, Clay, Randolph, Calhoun, and Cleburne Counties: $2.46 million
Community Action Partnership of Middle Alabama: $2.46 million
Community Action Committee Inc. of Chambers-Tallapoosa-Coosa: $760,959
Montgomery Community Action Committee and Community Development Corporation: $2.2 million
Community Action Agency of Northeast Alabama: $9.27 million
Mobile Community Action: $3.8 million
Macon-Russell Community Action Agency: $881,019
Pickens County Community Action Committee and Community Development Corporation: $202,227
Southeast Alabama Community Action Partnership: $2.27 million
Community Action Agency of South Alabama: $2.8 million
Community Action Partnership of North Alabama: $2.4 million
Community Service Programs of West Alabama: $4.27 million
Alabama Council on Human Relations: $1.79 million for Lee County
