The costs keep rising for everything under the sun, but especially for energy.

It becomes increasingly dire the closer and closer we get to the winter heating months.

That’s why New York State has been acting to strengthen the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), and to increase access to heating support and weatherization services for New York’s most vulnerable populations -- low-income families, the disabled, and the elderly.

I recently joined New York Governor David Paterson in Ithaca to announce a new public information campaign called HeatSmartNY.
 
Some of the specific actions being taken to bolster HEAP and lessen this winter’s impact on these at-risk New Yorkers include:

> increasing the maximum grant offered to those who heat their homes with deliverable fuels, including oil and kerosene, to $800, a 48-percent increase over last winter. The maximum grant to non-delivered fuel customers is also increasing from $540 to $585;

> increasing HEAP eligibility levels to the maximum permitted under federal law, up to $45,312 for a family of four;

> raising the emergency deliverable fuel benefit from $700 to $800, to ensure that the amount is sufficient to purchase a minimum fuel delivery; and

> waiving the requirement that people apply for HEAP in person, in cases where that may present a hardship.

A new Web site allows you to do a simple pre-screening to find out if you're eligible for HEAP (as well as for food and nutritional support programs, and state and federal tax credits).

Since HEAP is a federally funded program, with each state receiving a predetermined allocation, my State Senate colleagues and I continue to call on the Congress and President George Bush to fully fund HEAP in order to increase New York State’s allocation, which is currently set to remain at or below last winter’s level despite the anticipated rise in heating costs.

In a recent letter to Congress we wrote, "There still remains a critical need to increase federal support for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which allows the state to defray a portion of the heating bills for our most vulnerable populations. . .Unfortunately, in recent years Federal block grant funding of this program has remained flat while, as you are aware, energy costs have skyrocketed. This jeopardizes our state’s efforts to provide adequate support to the many eligible seniors and low-income families that need our assistance for something as basic as staying warm."

Visit the state Division of Housing for information on New York's "Weatherization Program."

Click here for additional tips on cutting your winter heating costs.