Energy rebates: Virginia application for direct payment for heating bills closes Tuesday

Applications for payments from Virginia’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program close Tuesday.

LIHEAP offers low-income families benefits to help pay for heating and cooling systems. In Virginia, residents can send applications for the program until Tuesday to receive assistance paying their heating bills as winter approaches.

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LIHEAP payments can be used for furnace restarts, late charges, delivery charges, installation charges, and connection or reconnection fees, and they can be applied to heating costs.

To be eligible, citizens must have heating or cooling bills and a gross monthly income of less than 150% of the federal poverty level. A single-person household cannot make more than $1,822, and a 20-person household cannot make more than $13,922 monthly.

Applicants can submit their applications online or through local departments of social services.

Benefits are slated to be sent out in December.

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LIHEAP originated from the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-1974. The United States began issuing fuel subsidies for low-income families to allow them to meet their energy needs at a time when oil prices were skyrocketing. Though “Project Fuel” mainly focused on weatherization, fuel subsidies were also part of the program.

From Project Fuel came the Energy Conservation Program in 1975, which evolved into the Low Income Energy Assistance Program in 1979, replaced in 1981 by the LIHEAP.