Serving The Deliverable Fuels Industry
LIHEAP Remains in Peril
An update on the outlook for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program opens the News section in this issue. Mark Wolfe, Executive Director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association( NEADA), published a letter to the editor in the Washington Post, warning that the President’ s budget plans to eliminate LIHEAP. The update on page 6 provides the gist, but for those who want more,
STEPHEN BENNETT we’ re devoting Editor’ s Note to the complete text of the letter, as published July 1 by The Washington Post: It ran under a headline that reads,“ The GOP’ s budget would make summers hotter and your AC pricier,” with a sub-headline:“ The bill would cut energy subsidies and let energy-hogging AI run wild.” Here is the letter in full:
The nation recently suffered through its first heat waves of the summer season, a prolonged stretch of extreme temperature and humidity highs in the Midwest and Northeast states. And this is only the beginning of the heat season.
Each summer, millions of low-income Americans suffer in stifling homes, unable to afford the electricity needed to run an air conditioner. Prolonged exposure to extreme heat leads to a rising number of hospitalizations for high blood pressure, cardiovascular strain, dangerous dehydration— and worse. The danger is visible in the deaths of a woman on an Illinois roadside, an umpire at a youth softball tournament in South Carolina and a Texas postal worker walking his route. Others die alone, and their passing goes unrecognized as heat-related and uncounted in official records. Their suffering, year after year, remains invisible.
Extreme heat has quietly become the deadliest weather-related hazard in the United States, killing more than 1,300 people annually— more than hurricanes, floods, tornadoes or wildfires. This crisis is not confined to the Sun Belt. Record-breaking temperatures have reached the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and New England alike.
But unlike natural disasters that strike suddenly, and prompt sustained news coverage and broad charitable and governmental responses, extreme heat builds slowly and kills silently. Most deaths occur indoors. There are no dramatic rescue missions, no viral footage, no Federal Emergency Management Agency declarations. Americans are left to endure preventable tragedies alone in overheated homes.
Meanwhile, the cost of electricity continues to soar, rising faster than the overall rate of inflation. My organization has estimated that this summer’ s electricity prices will be the highest in 12 years. In a recent Census Bureau survey, a quarter of Americans and 37.4 percent of households earning under $ 50,000 reported they were unable to pay at least one energy bill in the past year. Collectively, Americans owe $ 24 billion in late payments to their utility companies. For these families, falling behind means choosing between electricity and food, between staying cool and buying medicine. Public policy has not caught up with this threat to Americans’ health and household budgets. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program was enacted more than 40 years ago, and designed primarily to help families heat their homes in winter, not to survive sweltering summers. Climate change has shifted the landscape.
Yet President Donald Trump’ s 2026 budget proposal would eliminate LIHEAP entirely. Without it, millions of Americans— many elderly, disabled or raising young children— would be left vulnerable in homes that are increasingly uninhabitable in the summer heat. And those who survive could fall even deeper into energy poverty.
In a country as wealthy as ours, no family should have to choose between cooling their home and putting food on the table. No senior should die quietly in a sweltering apartment. No parent should have to decide between electricity and a prescription. Extreme heat may be a silent killer, but our failure to act would speak volumes. Mark Wolfe, Washington The writer is executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association and codirector of the Center on Energy Poverty and Climate.
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editorial Office EPG Brand Acceleration 7760 France Ave S, Suite 810 Bloomington, MN 55435
Editor Stephen Bennett 763 / 383-4406 sbennett @ epgacceleration. com
Columnists Rashaan Baskerville Marci Gagnon George Lanthier Shane Sweet
List Rentals Kris Grauer 203 / 822-7933 kgrauer @ npsmediagroup. com
Reprints For more information on e-prints or reprints from Fuel Oil News magazine, Please visit https:// epgacceleration. com / marketing-services / and contact us today or email us at info @ epgacceleration. com.
PRODUCTION Associate Managing Art Director – Nicole Siewert
ADVERTISING SALES
Central, South & East Dave Campbell, Associate Publisher 763 / 383-4457 dcampbell @ epgacceleration. com
MAIN OFFICE
EPG Brand Acceleration 7760 France Ave S, Suite 810 Bloomington, MN 55435
CUSTOMER SERVICE
763 / 383-4492 • Fax: 763 / 383-4499 customerservice @ epgacceleration. com Fuel Oil News Box 96, Port Jervis, NY 12771-0096
4 JULY 2025 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www. fueloilnews. com
BRAND ACCELERATION