Frost advisories are issued for much of Connecticut early Tuesday morning, and with dropping temperatures, there are rising concerns about the cost of energy and the burden of home heating bills.
Heading into the colder winter months this year, there is much demand for energy assistance: so much that one assistance program, Operation Fuel, has already closed applications for the summer-fall period.
Nonetheless, one Connecticut nonprofit wants residents to know that energy assistance is still available through other pots of federal funding.
While some are aiming for no heat until Trick-or-Treat, others admit they are more than happy to flip on the heat now.
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“I’m going to turn my heat on just a little bit, just a little bit,” Malcolm Lewis, of New Britain, said.
They are warming their homes as they prepare for the first expected frost of the season.
“When I get out the shower, I have, because it’s drafty windows at home and whatnot,” Brittany Tatum, of Windsor, said.
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However, they are also budgeting for the burden of home heating bills.
“Absolutely. You have to,” Tatum said.
“I just try to counteract it with some other things,” Lewis said.
Energy costs are a concern among Connecticut residents and legislators every year.
“Connecticut has some of the highest heating costs in all of the nation,” Rhonda Evans, CAFCA interim executive director, said.
It is why the Connecticut Association for Community Action, or CAFCA, is working with community organizations and encouraging people to apply for the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program, known as CEAP.
The federally funded program helps income eligible residents pay for their primary heating bills.
“The number of applicants that we've seen for the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program has risen every single year for the last three years, and we're projecting that those numbers will rise again,” Evans said.
Last heating season, from Sept. 2022 to May 2023, the program got 127,000 applicants. More than 107,000 were approved for energy assistance.
Yet unlike Operation Fuel, the assistance program that closed applications for the summer-fall season earlier this month, citing high-demand and rising costs, Evans says Connecticut residents can still apply for CEAP.
“The Connecticut Energy Assistance Program is something that is funded separately from Operation Fuel,” Evans said. “The Energy Assistance Program is open and applications are being taken. And we want to make sure that everyone has their heating needs, and stays warm and safe this winter.”
The Department of Social Services, which runs CEAP, tells NBC Connecticut in a statement that the department is preparing to help residents stay warm.
“CEAP is a vital program that helps ensure Connecticut residents don’t have to choose between heating their homes and other essential expenses,” the statement reads.
CEAP is currently accepting applications for the 2023-24 winter period, and Evans says Connecticut residents can apply for assistance through May 31.
Anyone interested can contact their local community action agency to get more information or request application assistance. Applications can also be done online at ct.gov/heatinghelp.
The Department of Social Services encourages Connecticut residents to also visit ct.gov/DSS and click the “Heating Help” icon to learn how to make energy-efficient improvements to homes.
Operation Fuel will also open applications again for the winter-spring season on Jan. 2.
On top of these assistance programs, the Public Utilities Regulator Authority, or PURA, is encouraging Connecticut electric customers to shop around for their electric supplier, and check with their utility to see whether they qualify for financial hardship programs, including the low-income discount rate for residential electric customers that launches on Jan. 1.
PURA has posted online resources in a newsletter and a video on comparing energy supplier rates.
