Consumers eligible for heating aid can begin applying for assistance today.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program provides cash and heating crisis grants to qualifying households based on earnings. LIHEAP helps hundreds of thousands of needy families in the state pay heating bills.
State and local LIHEAP aid levels last winter were down substantially from the preceding year.
The state was allotted more than $209 million in the last fiscal year for LIHEAP aid, according to the federal government, but the state Department of Public Welfare reported it distributed $171.5 million in heating aid. The winter before, the federal government allotted $294 million to the state for LIHEAP.
The relatively mild winter weather last year may have been a factor in less money being distributed, said Carey Miller, a Public Welfare spokeswoman. Qualification levels for aid also were tightened last year.
LIHEAP funding for the current heating season will be determined in Congressional budget negotiations and is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
"We are hoping our allocation for this year will be the same as last year," Ms. Miller said.
Households with income of up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level are eligible for LIHEAP. The qualification level last winter was decreased from 160 percent of the poverty level.
Individuals with earnings up to $16,755, or a family of four with income of $34,575 qualify for aid.
Last winter, more than 8,150 households in Lackawanna County received almost $2.1 million in LIHEAP aid, according to state data. The preceding winter, more than 10,900 household received $5 million in aid.
In Luzerne County, about 18,100 households collected about $4.8 million in LIHEAP grants last winter, state figures show. The preceding season, more than 21,300 Luzerne County households received $9.9 million.
LIHEAP makes a big difference for people who need the assistance, said Michael Hanley, executive director of United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, a Scranton-based agency that provides services to the needy.
"When we look at the tremendously high unemployment rate in Lackawanna County and couple that with the poverty rate - especially among children - any assistance we can get is important," Mr. Hanley said.
The program, though, does not help everyone who could use the aid, he said.
"Some people are left out of the loop that really need the assistance," Mr. Hanley said.
Lackawanna County residents apply for LIHEAP at the county assistance office in the State Office Building in Scranton.
Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com