By Scott Turner
About 250 Huntsville Utilities customers were in for a surprise when they received letters notifying them their accounts were about to be debited $100 to take care of their electric bills.
The letters indicated their accounts would be debited when their next invoices are due.
That’s because the assistance they were receiving through grants distributed by the Community Action Partnership of Huntsville/Madison & Limestone Counties, were revoked following an executive order from President Donald Trump.
Customers impacted are encouraged to contact the Community Action Partnership or Huntsville Utilities customer service for further guidance.
According to Mike Presley from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, only a small portion of the federal funds allocated to Alabama for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) are currently paused by an executive order signed by Trump.
The state received $53 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for fiscal year 2025 as part of the regular yearly allocation for the LIHEAP program. Community action agencies are currently providing emergency assistance with home heating bills to eligible households through that funding, which can range from $280-$550. There is no pause in that funding
The state also received a much smaller $1 million allocation for the LIHEAP program from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for fiscal year 2025.
Under the IIJA, eligible households that receive heating assistance from the regular LIHEAP program funds also receive a supplemental award of $100 from these IIJA funds to help with home heating costs until the IIJA funds are depleted. This supplemental funding is currently paused due to the president’s executive order titled Unleashing American Energy, and that is what is addressed in the letter from Huntsville Utilities.
That executive order was separate from the memo about the overall federal funding freeze and covered energy-related funds from the IIJA, including these LIHEAP funds. ADECA is awaiting further guidance from federal agencies on how to proceed.
